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The Boy Tkavelleks in the Far East 

PART THIRD 



ADVENTURES OF TWO YOUTHS IN A JOURNEY 



TO 



CEYLON AND INDIA 

WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF BORNEO, THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 

AND BURMAH 



BY 

THOMAS W. K1STOX 

AUTHOR OF 

"THE YOUNG NIMRODS" "CAMP-FIRE AND COTTON-FIELD" "OVERLAND THROUGH ASIA' 

"UNDERGROUND" "JOHN" "HOW TO TRAVEL' ETC. 



JMustrcrtcfr 



NEW YORK AND LONDON 
HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS 

1902 



V 

ft' 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1881, by 

HARPER & BROTHERS, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at "Washington, 



All rights reserved. 



s oS' 



LC Control Number 



tmp96 026028 



PREFACE. 



'T^HIS volume completes the series of " The Boy Travellers in the Far 
-*- East." It attempts to describe Ceylon and India, together with 
Borneo, the Philippine Islands, and Burmah, in the same manner that 
the preceding volumes gave an account of Japan, China, Siam, Java, 
Cochin-China, Cambodia, and the Malay Archipelago. 

Frank and Fred have continued their journey under the guidance 
of Doctor Bronson, and the plan of their travels is identical with that 
previously followed. The words of the last preface may be repeated 
in this: "The incidents of the narrative were mainly the experiences 
of the author at a recent date ; and the descriptions of countries, cities, 
temples, people, manners, and customs are nearly all from his personal 
observations and notes. He has endeavored to give a faithful account 
of Ceylon, India, Burmah, and the Philippine Islands as they appear to- 
day, and trusts that the only fiction of the book is in the names of the 
individuals who tell the story." 

As in the foregoing volumes, the narrative has been interrupted oc- 
casionally, in order to introduce matters of general interest to juvenile 
readers. The author hopes that the chapters on meteors, sea-serpents, 
and outrigger boats will meet the same welcome that was accorded to 
the episode of a whaling voyage, in the first volume, and the digressions 
concerning naval architecture, submarine explorations, and the advent- 
ures of Marco Polo, in the second. 

The publishers have kindly allowed the use of illustrations that have 
appeared in previous publications, in addition to those specially pre- 
pared for this volume. The author has consulted the works of pre- 
vious travellers in the Far East to supplement his own information, 
and is under obligations to several of them. As in the last volume, he 



6 PKEFACE. 

is specially indebted to Mr. Frank Vincent, Jr., author of " The Land of 
the White Elephant," for his descriptions of Burmah, and for the use 
of several of the engravings relative to that country. Other authorities 
have been generally credited in the text of the work, or in foot-notes to 
the pages where quotations are made. 

In their departure from Bombay, Frank and. Fred have left the Far 
East behind them ; but, as they are yet a long way from home, they can 
hardly be said to have finished their travels. It is quite possible that 
they may be heard from again, in the company of their good friend, the 
Doctor, and may allow us, as they have heretofore, to glance at their 
letters to friends at home. 

T. W. K. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. p A eu 

Departure from Java. — Voyage to Borneo 15 

CHAPTER II. 
An Excursion in Borneo. — Story of Rajah Brooke 24 

CHAPTER III. 
Arriyal at Manilla.— First Day on Shore 87 

CHAPTER IV. 
An Evening Promenade. — Village Life near Manilla 48 

CHAPTER V. 
An Excursion to the Interior. — Buffaloes and Agriculture 58 

CHAPTER VI. 
Hunting in Luzon. — Crocodiles and Great Snakes 71 

CHAPTER VII. 
Hunting the Deer and Wild Boar. — Results of the Chase 83 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Shooting Bats and Iguanas. — Visiting the Hot Springs 94 

CHAPTER IX. 
An Excursion among the Mountains. — Return to Manilla. — An Earthquake 104 

CHAPTER X. 
From Manilla to Singapore, and up the Straits of Malacca. — A Day at Pulo Penang. 121 

CHAPTER XI. 
Shooting-Stars and their Character. — A Remarkable Voyage 133 

CHAPTER XII. 
First Day in Burmah. — The Golden Pagoda 145 

CHAPTER XIII. 
A Voyage up the Irrawaddy. — Scenes on the Great Riyer 156 

CHAPTER XIV, 
Up the Irrawaddy. — Mandalay. — Audience with the King of Burmah 170 

CHAPTER XV. 

Leaving Burmah. — Capturing a Sea-Snake. — Stories of the Sea-Serpent 182 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Arrival in Ceylon. — Cingalese Boats. — Precious Stones of the East 195 

CHAPTER XVII. 
Sights in Point de Galle. — Overland to Colombo 207 



8 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XVIII. p AQE 

Sights in Colombo.— Railway Journey to Kandy 219 

CHAPTER XIX. 
Around Kandy. — Botanical Gardens and Coffee Plantations. — Adventures with Snakes 230 

CHAPTER XX. 
Travelling in .Ceylon. — Encounter with a Buffalo. — From Kandy to Newera-Ellia 245 

CHAPTER XXI. 
Scenery at Newera-Ellia. — Ascent of Adam's Peak 257 

CHAPTER XXII. 
From Ceylon to India. — A Marine Entertainment. — The Story of Robinson Crusoe.. . . . 269 

CHAPTER XXIII. 
Sights in Pondicherry. — The French East Indies. — Voyage to Madras 282 

CHAPTER XXIV. 
Sights and Scenes in Madras. — The Indian Famine 293 

CHAPTER XXV. 
From Madras to Calcutta. — The Temple and Car of Juggernaut 306 

CHAPTER XXVI. 
Sights and Scenes in Calcutta 322 

CHAPTER XXVII. 
Calcutta, Continued. — Departure for Benares 337 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 
Northward by Rail. — Opium Culture. — Arrival at Benares 34& 

CHAPTER XXIX. 
Sights in Benares. — The Monkey Temple. — Sarnath. — Buddhism 359 

CHAPTER XXX. 
Benares to Lucknow. — Sights in the Capital of Oude. — The Relief of Lucknow 373 

CHAPTER XXXI. 
Lucknow to Cawnpore and Agra. — Taj Mahal and Fottehpoor Sikra 390 

CHAPTER XXXII. 
In and Around Delhi. — Departure for Simla and the Himalayas 406 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 
From Umballah to Simla — Excursion among the Himalayas 419 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 
Hunting-Scenes in India. — Pursuit of the Tiger on Foot and with Elephants 431 

CHAPTER XXXV. 
From Simla to Allahabad and Bombay. — A Great Hindoo Festival. — Castes 443 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 

A Short History of India. — The Sepoy Mutiny. — Present Condition of the Army in /ndia 457 

CHAPTER XXXVII. 
Bombay. — The Towers of Silence. — Caves of Elephanta. — Farewell to India 469 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE 

Outward Bound IS 

Chinese Horse-shoeing „ 1 7 

The British Isles and Borneo Compared .... 19 

Ascending the River , 20 

A Fruit-store in Sarawak 21 

A Dyak Youth ; 23 

Scene on the River 24 

Leaf Butterfly in Flight and Repose 26 

A Floating Island 28 

Bridge of Bamboo in Borneo 80 

Remarkable Beetles in Borneo 81 

American Missionary Station in Borneo. . ... 85 

Sunset in the China Sea , 86 

Map of the Philippine Islands 3 V 

Scene on Manilla Bay 38 

Coast Scene in the Philippine Islands ...... 40 

Barge and House on the Pasig 41 

Old Bridge at Manilla 43 

A Manilla Dandy .' 43 

A Native Girl in Manilla 44 

Native Amusements 45 

Spanish Galleons on their Way over the Pa- 
cific 46 

Mouth of the Bay of Manilla 4*7 

View of Manilla from the Binondo Suburb . . 48 

A Creole in European Dress 50 

Spanish Metis 50 

Chinese Metis „ 51 

Spanish Metis of the Wealthy Class 52 

Palm-tree in the Botanical Garden 53 

Life in the Water 55 

Horns of the Buffalo 56 

Native House in the Suburbs of Manilla. ... 57 

A Group of Natives of Manilla. , 58 

View on the River Pasig 60 

Scene on the Shore 62 

A Bamboo Fishing-raft 63 



PAGE 

A Stampede of Buffaloes 64 

Shooting a Buffalo . 66 

A Native Plough in Luzon 67 

A Buffalo Yoke 68 

Native Wooden Plough and Yoke for Oxen. 68 

The Comb Harrow 69 

Tagal Indians Cleaning Rice 70 

Cascade near Jala- Jala 72 

The House at Jala-Jala 73 

Stacking Rice in the Philippine Islands ... 74 

The Philippine Locust 75 

A Native Woman Seized by a Crocodile. ... 77 

A Huge Captive 78 

A Wild Boar Attacked by a Boa-constrictor 80 

Fight with a Great Snake 81 

A Stag-hunt in Luzon with Horses and Dogs 82 

A Howling Monkey .' 84 

Deer in a Tropical Forest 85 

Pond Scene in Luzon 86 

A Pavava 88 

Skull of Babirusa 90 

Frank's Prize— a Butterfly 92 

Fred's Prize— the Mud-laff 93 

Indians Hunting Turtles' Eggs 96 

How a Bat Sleeps 98 

The Iguana 98 

Paul P. de la Gironiere 99 

The Girl with the Long Hair 100 

A Primitive Loom in the Philippine Islands 102 

The Banana 103 

An Alcalde and his Constable 105 

An Avenue of Palm-trees 106 

A Village Clock 108 

A Volcano in Repose 109 

Indians of the Interior 110 

Travelling through the Forest in Luzon .... Ill 

Street Scene during an Earthquake 112 



1* 



10 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE 

Destruction of Messina in 1783 115 

Italian Peasants Ingulfed by Crevasses. ... 116 

A Submarine Eruption 117 

United States War- steamer "Wateree," 

Stranded at Arica in 1868 119 

On the Way to Singapore 121 

Bay on the Coast of Sumatra 123 

Coast Scene in the Straits of Malacca 124 

Palm-trees in Pulo Penang 127 

A Suburban Cottage 128 

A Penang Butterfly 129 

Humming-birds 130 

A Travelling Blacksmith 131 

First View of the Meteor 133 

Explosion of the Meteor 134 

The Santa Rosa Aerolite 136 

Melbourne Aerolite 137 

Structure of the Texas Aerolite 138 

River-boats in Burmah 140 

Out on the Waters 140 

A Wreck at Sea 141 

A Flying-fish . 142 

Landing on the Beach „ 144 

Creek Leading from the Rangoon River. ... 146 

Great Shoay Dagon, or Golden Pagoda 148 

Statue of Buddha in the Golden Pagoda. ... 150 

A Burmese Woman 152 

A Burmese Judge and his Attendants 153 

Burmese River Scene 154 

Native Fort Captured by British Troops. . . . 155 

Native Boat on the Irrawaddy 157 

Native House near the River 158 

Malay " Sampan," or River-boat 159 

A Burmese Temple 161 

A Composite Crew 164 

An Eastern Water-fall 165 

Monastery at Prome 166 

Mrs. Judson Visiting her Husband in Prison 168 
Mrs. Judson Teaching a Class of Native 

Converts 169 

Barracks on the Frontier 170 

View of Mandalay, Capital of the Kingdom 

of Ava, or Burmah 172 

Boat Drawn by a Bullock 173 

The Royal Palace at Mandalay 177 

Copy of an Old Burmese Painting 178 

Mountain Gorge on the Upper Part of the 

River 180 



PAGE 

Coast of the Andaman Islands 183 

Sea-snake of the Indian Ocean and Fox- 
shark 185 

Restored Fossil Reptiles of New Jersey. ... 188 

Cuttle-fish Attacking a Chinese Junk 189 

Captain Lawrence de Ferry's Sea-serpent. . . 190 

Head of Captain M'Quhae's Serpent 192 

Captain M'Quhae's Sea-serpent 193 

Outrigger Boat from Ladrone Islands 196 

Double Canoe, Friendly Islands 197 

Double Canoe, Society Islands 197 

Feejee Island Canoe 198 

American Modification of a Savage Boat . . . 200 

Scene on the Coast of Ceylon 202 

Ruins of a Portuguese Church 203 

A Young Native at Breakfast 204 

View of the Coast near Galle Harbor 206 

A Street in Point de Galle 207 

An Army of Ants on the Move 208 

Entrance to the Cinnamon Gardens 210 

Donkey and Pack-saddle 213 

Gathering Cocoa-nuts 214 

A Young Cocoa-palm 215 

Nests of the Toddy-bird 215 

Residence of a Wealthy Foreigner . 217 

Scene on the Coast near Colombo 218 

A Business Street in the " Black Town" . . . 220 

Moorish Merchants of Ceylon 221 

A Suburban Scene 222 

A Group of Tamil Coolies 223 

Cingalese Men 224 

Cingalese Women 225 

A Cheap Comb .226 

Cashew-nut 226 

A Coolie at Prayers 227 

The Wild Forest 228 

Young Palms in the Botanic Garden 231 

India-rubber-tree 232 

Residence of a Coffee-planter 233 

View on a Coffee Estate 234 

Plantation Laborers . 236 

Shed on a Coffee Plantation , . 237 

Pleasures of a Morning Walk 238 

Fight between a Hawk and a Snake 240 

Fight between a Black Snake and a Rattle- 
snake 241 

The Lotos Flower 243 

The Last of the Giants 247 



ILLUSTEATIONS. 



11 



PAGE 

Tank Scene in Ceylon 248 

Elephants at Home 249 

Tying up an Elephant 250 

Elephants under a Banyan-tree 251 

A Native Treed by a Buffalo Cow and Calf. 252 

A Dangerous Predicament 253 

Native House and Children 255 

A Tropical Fern 25V 

Waiting for the Races 259 

Scorpion 261 

Centipede 261 

A View in the Foot-hills 262 

Natives of the Forest. 263 

Temple on Adam's Peak 265 

Tropical Growth near Ratnapoora 266 

A Morning Caller 267 

Evening Visitors 268 

Temple and Trees at Tuticorin 269 

A Fashionable " Hackery " 2*72 

Eastern Mode of Feeding Oxen 273 

Part of a Hindoo Pagoda 275 

Robinson Crusoe 277 

The Shipwreck 277 

Landing of Robinson Crusoe 277 

Crusoe's Equipment 278 

Crusoe and his Gun 278 

Crusoe and his Pets 279 

Crusoe's Castle 279 

Arrival of Friday 280 

Portrait of the Hero 280 

A Sail ! a Sail ! 281 

Going Ashore 282 

Natives in the Surf 283 

Scene near Pondicherry 284 

House in the European Quarter 286 

An Indian Woman 287 

An Indian Man 287 

A Serpent-charmer 288 

Masullah-boats in the Surf at Madras 290 

A Catamaran 291 

Hindoo Native of Madras 292 

Western Entrance of Fort George 293 

Governor's Residence, Fort George 294 

Hump-backed Cow 295 

Madras Dhobies, or Washermen 296 

A Madras Bungalow 297 

A Pankha- wallah 299 

Native Merchant of Madras 301 



PAGE 

A Madras Palkee 304 

Inhabitants of Pooree 307 

Plan of the Temple of Juggernaut 309 

Jaganath and his Brother and Sister £10 

A Hindoo Devotee. 312 

The Car of Juggernaut 314 

A Tropical Morning at Sea 316 

Bayou in Saugur Island 317 

Diamond Harbor 319 

Scene on the Hoogly 320 

River Scene below Calcutta 322 

Bumboat on the Hoogly 324 

Landing-place at Calcutta 325 

Street Scene in Calcutta 328 

A Native Nurse 328 

The Maidan, or Esplanade, of Calcutta 331 

A Collision 332 

An Unpleasant Occurrence 333 

Harbor of Calcutta 335 

The Burning Ghaut at Calcutta 338 

Parasitical Vines on a Tree 339 

The Cotton-tree 340 

Bengalee Water-carriers 342 

Native Woman of Bengal. . 344 

Part of Black Town, Calcutta 345 

Railway Travelling in India 350 

Coolies Going to the Poppy-fields 351 

Shop of an Opium Merchant 353 

Coolies Cooking 354 

Scene on the River 355 

Boatmen Ashore 366 

Cooking Breakfast 357 

A Window in Benares 360 

Part of the Water Front of Benares 362 

Temple at Manikarnika 364 

Mosque of Aurengzebe the Great 366 

A Street near the Great Mosque 367 

An Elephant Ride 369 

Buddhist Tower at Sarnath 370 

Carving on the Tower at Sarnath 371 

Water-bearing Ox at Benares 372 

A Jeweller of Benares 373 

A Pious Pilgrim 375 

Religious Beggars at Benares 376 

The Imambara at Lucknow 378 

The Martiniere 380 

Dyers at Lucknow 381 

The Residency at Lucknow 383 



12 



ILLUSTEATIONS. 



PAGE 

Merchants of Lucknow. 386 

An Old Sikh 38*7 

Low-caste Inhabitants of Cawnpore 391 

The Memorial Well at Cawnpore 392 

View of the Taj Mahal from the Garden. . . 395 

Gate-way of Garden, Taj Mahal 396 

Front View of the Taj Mahal 39*7 

The Princess of Shah Jehan 398 

Gate- way of Secundra Garden 400 

Tomb of the Emperor Akbar at Agra 402 

Entrance to the Great Mosque of Durgah. . 403 

The Panch Mahal 405 

Scene on the Chandni Chowk, Delhi 407 

Merchants of Delhi 409 

The Dewan-i-khas, Delhi 411 

Jamma Musjid, or Great Mosque 413 

The Kuttub Minar 415 

The Iron Pillar 416 

Trees in the Court-yard of the Mosque 417 

The Dawk Garry 419 

Horseback-ride in the Himalayas 420 

A Bareilly Dandy 421 

A Ton-Jon 422 

View of the Himalayas 423 

Gathering Tea-leaves in India 425 

A Model Cook 426 

Climbing-plant in the Himalayas 427 

Door of a Temple, and Praying-machines. . . 428 

Saddle-oxen in the Himalayas 429 

A Thibetan Dog 430 



PAGE 

Tiger-hunting from Mycham, or Shooting-box 433 

An Awkward Predicament 435 

Procession of Tiger-hunters on Foot 436 

A Grapple with a Tiger 438 

A Narrow Escape 439 

A Wild Boar Attacking a Panther 441 

Hindoo Fakirs Cutting themselves with 

Knives 444 

A Pilgrim Carrying Religious Relics 446 

Moslem School at Allahabad . . . . 448 

Hindoo Robbers in Prison 450 

Thugs Awaiting Trial at Allahabad 451 

Vestibule of the Great Temple at Ellora . . . 453 
Interior of Temple Hewn from the Rock. . . 455 

Mural Sculptures at Ellora. 456 

Railway Viaduct in the Mountains 457 

Hindoo Girl of High Caste 459 

A Native Prince of India, with his Sons. . . . 462 

Reception of Travellers . ." 464 

Trial of a Mutineer. 466 

English Officers in India 467 

Bombay and its Environs 470 

A Parsee Merchant 471 

Parsee School Children 473 

A Parsee Tower of Silence, near Teheran. . . 475 

A Bunder-boat 476 

The Caves of Elephanta 478 

Cotton Market at Bombay 479 

Serpents Dancing to Music 481 

Farewell to India 483 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS 

IN 

THE FAR EAST. 



CHAPTER I. 

DEPARTURE FROM JAVA.— VOYAGE TO BORNEO. 

r rVHE conference over the route to be followed from Batavia was long 
-*- and animated. Frank and Fred each proposed at least a dozen plans, 
but as fast as a scheme was suggested it was overthrown in consequence 
of unforeseen difficulties. 

While they were in the midst of their discussion, Doctor Bronson left 




OUTWARD BOUXD. 



the room, and soon returned with a newspaper in his hand. The boys 
looked up, and by the smile on his face they at once understood that he 
held the solution of the puzzle. So they pushed aside the maps, and 
waited for him to speak. 

" We start to-morrow morning," said the Doctor, " and must send our 
heavy baggage away in an hour." 



16 THE BOY TEAVELLEES IN THE FAR EAST. 

"All right," responded the boys, cheerily ; "we can be ready in half 
that time if necessary," Fred added, as he rose from the table, and was 
followed by Frank. 

True to their promise, they were back again in less than half an hour, 
and declared that all was ready. The Doctor had been occupied with his 
trunks while the boys were preparing their effects, and as he had more to 
attend to than they, he was not quite as prompt. But before the end of 
the hour he joined them, and then the porter of the hotel was summoned 
to take away the baggage and see it safely on board the steamer. 

"JSTow we shall know where we're going," said Frank, " and I suppose 
the Doctor's newspaper has something to do with our movements." 

" Quite correct," the Doctor responded ; " it has very much to do with 
them." 

Then he opened the sheet, which was nothing more nor less than a 
paper printed at Batavia, in the Dutch language. He directed their at- 
tention to an advertisement, and they were not long in spelling it out 
and divining its meaning. It was to the effect that a steamer was to sail 
early the next day for Borneo and the Philippine Islands. The Doctor 
explained that he was fortunate enough to find the captain of this vessel 
in the office of the hotel, and had arranged for them to take passage on 
her to Sarawak and Manilla. 

" I understand," said Frank, " Sarawak is in Borneo, and Manilla is 
the capital of the Philippine Islands. We shall visit both those places." 

"Yes," replied Doctor Bronson, "the steamer goes first to Sarawak, 
where she has a lot of cargo to leave, and perhaps some to take, and then 
she proceeds to Manilla. If you study the map you will see that Sarawak 
is almost on a direct line from Batavia to Manilla." 

They looked at the map, and found it as the Doctor had stated. Fred 
wished to learn something about Borneo, but the Doctor suggested they 
would have plenty of time for that on the voyage, and they had better 
devote the evening to a farewell drive through Batavia. The boys at 
once assented to the proposal, and as soon as a carriage could be called 
they were off. 

Their drive led them along the broad avenues of Batavia, and close to 
the banks of one of the canals where a number of boys were enjoying an 
afternoon bath. Then they passed through a part of the Chinese quarter 
where Frank and Fred were greatly amused at the operation of shoeing 
a horse. The unhappy beast was tied between a couple of upright posts, 
and partially suspended from a horizontal beam, so that he had very little 
chance to kick or struggle. Evidently he had given up all idea of resist- 



FAREWELL DRIVE THROUGH BATAVIA. 



17 




CHINESE HORSE-SHOEING. 



ance, as lie stood with his eyes half closed, and presented a general appear- 
ance of resignation. 

Our friends returned to the hotel in good season for dinner, which 
contained the inevitable curry to which the boys had become accustomed 
during their sojourn in the tropics. Frank asked if they would, bid good- 
bye to curry in leaving Java ; he was assured that the article was destined 
to figure on their bill of fare for an indefinite period, as the countries they 
were to visit were inhabited by eaters of curry no less than were Siam 
and Java. 

They went early to bed, and by daylight on the following morning 
were up and ready for departure. 

They rode in a carriage to the "boom," or pier, where a small boat 
was waiting to take them to the steamer. They went out by the same 
canal that they entered on their arrival, and by seven o'clock they were 
on board the Osprey, that was to be their home for several days. The 
captain was there ahead of them, and before eight o'clock they were out- 



IS THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE EAR EAST. 

ward bound, and leaving behind them the Island of Java, with its dense 
population and its wealth of natural products. 

They watched the receding coast as long as it was in sight. Grad- 
ually it faded to a mere line on the horizon, and then disappeared alto- 
gether ; but hardly had it vanished before they were in sight of Sumatra. 
All day they were within a few miles of its shores, and the boys longed 
greatly to make an exploration of this little-known region. They were 
obliged to be content with what they had learned of Sumatra on their 
journey to the southward, and recalled with pleasure the stories told 
them by their fellow-passenger on the steamer between Singapore and 
Batavia. 

The adventures of our young friends, Frank Bassett and Fred Bron- 
son, up to the time of their departure from Java, have been told in pre- 
vious volumes.* 

At the end of the first day the Osprey bore away to the eastward, 
near the island of Banca, famous for its mines of tin ; and on the follow- 
ing morning the coast of Borneo was in sight. The boys declared their 
inability to discover any difference between Borneo and Sumatra when 
seen from the deck of a ship, as the general appearance of the land was 
the same. 

" Very naturally that is the case," said the Doctor. • " Both islands 
are tropical, and have the same characteristics in the way of mountains 
and valleys, and nearly all the trees of one are to be found on the other. 
The animal products are nearly alike, though the naturalists have found 
certain things in Borneo that do not exist in Sumatra, and vice versa. 
Kow, tell me, please, which is the larger island of the two V 

" Borneo is the larger," Fred answered ; " it is about 850 miles long 
by 650 broad in its widest part, and is estimated to contain nearly 
300,000 square miles. Sumatra is 200 miles longer than Borneo, but 
only 250 wide, and its area is thought to be not far from 160,000 square 
miles." 

" Quite right," responded the Doctor ; " and now it's Frank's turn. 
What are the populations of the islands?" 

"The book we have just been reading," was the reply, "says that 
Sumatra has between three and four millions of inhabitants, while 



* "The Boy Travellers in the Far East. — Parts I. and II. Adventures of Two Youths in 
a Journey to Japan, China. Siam, and Java, with Descriptions of Cochin-China, Cambodia, Su- 
matra, and the Malay Archipelago. By Thomas W. Knox. Published by Harper & Brothers, 
New York, 1880-81." 



THE EXTENT OF BORNEO. 



19 



Borneo has less than 3,000,000 ; therefore, Borneo must be very thinly 
peopled." 

"To give you an idea of the density of the population, we will make 
a comparison. The Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland," Doctor 
Bronson continued, " has more than 30,000,000 of inhabitants, with an 
area no larger than that of Sumatra, and far less than that of Borneo. 
Mr. Wallace, in his 'Malay Archipelago,' says the whole of the British 
Islands might be set down in Borneo, and would be surrounded by a sea 
of forests. Here is a map in which Borneo and the British Isles have 
been drawn to the same scale, and you see that Mr. Wallace's statement 
is entirely correct." 

Several minutes were passed in the examination of the map, and the 
youths confessed their surprise at the information it gave them. They 
had no idea Borneo was so large, or, as Fred expressed it, that Great 
Britain was so small. The 
Doctor set them laughing 
with the story of the Amer- 
ican who visited England 
and said he liked the coun- 
try very much, but was 
afraid to go out in the 
evening through fear that 
lie would walk off into the 
sea. 

It was a voyage of little 
more than two days from 
Batavia to Sarawak, the port 
in Borneo to which the Os- 
prey was bound. The time 
was passed by our friends 
in conversation concerning 
the curious land they were 
about to visit, and certain 
features of its history. About 
noon of the third day from 
Singapore they were off the 
entrance of the Sarawak Riv- 
er, and, as the steamer was 

small, and of light draught, they were not delayed in passing the bar. 
Several native craft were on the stream, but they did not see a single 




THE BRITISH ISLES AND BORNEO COMPARED. 



20 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE EAR EAST. 

foreign rigged vessel until they entered the river and were well on their 
way to the town. 

Here is what Frank wrote in his note-book : 

" The town of Sarawak is about eighteen miles from the sea, and the 
voyage up from the bar reminded us of the voyage from the mouth of 
the Menam to Bangkok. The banks are lined with tropical trees of all 
kinds, and sometimes the foliage is so dense that it would be next to im- 
possible to go through it without a hatchet. The houses are built over 
the water in many instances, and they have platforms in front where you 
can land from small boats just as you land at a wharf from a ship. By 




ASCENDING THE RIVER. 



this arrangement the people are under no expense for drainage, as the 
water carries everything away as soon as it is thrown overboard. But 
the Doctor says the river abounds in snakes, just as the Menam does; and 
they come into the houses without waiting to be invited. 

" The town contains about 25,000 inhabitants. They are mostly Ma- 
lays and Chinese ; the former have come from other parts of the arehi- 
pelago, and the latter from the southern provinces of China, like their 
countrymen in Siam. The original inhabitants of the country do not 
get along very well with the Chinese and Malays, and the most of them 
prefer to live farther in the interior. There is nothing very remarkable 



A WALK THROUGH SARAWAK. 



21 



about the place, and you can see the most of it without going on shore, 
as it stands on the bank of the river, and none of the houses are very 
far from the water. We went ashore in a small boat rowed by Malays, 
and they made it go very fast with their strong arms at. the oars: these 
Malays are excellent sailors and boatmen, and are preferred to any other 
nationality of the East, with the exception of the Chinese. Some of the 
ship captains say they would rather have a Malay crew than a Chinese 
one, as the Malays are less likely to become scared in a storm, and forget 
how to do their work. 

"We took a walk through the principal street of Sarawak, and saw 
lots of men who were doing nothing, and evidently didn't wish to be 
employed. The most of the hard work is performed by the Chinese, and 
our observation is that they are the most industrious people of the Far 
East, and the best at a trade. The commerce here, apart from that which 



m 





A FRUIT-STORE IN SARAWAK. 



22 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

the English control, is mostly in Chinese hands, so the Doctor tells us, 
and some of their merchants have made large fortunes. They trade in 
anything they can buy and sell, and are satisfied with small profits when 
they cannot get large ones, and some of their shops manage to get along 
with very few goods. We passed a fruit-store, where there were two or 
three boxes of oranges visible near the door, and a large bunch of ba- 
nanas was hung outside for a sign, or perhaps to allow them to get ripe 
in the open air. One old fellow was smoking on the front step with his 
cat behind him, and three others were inside talking something we could 
not understand. They all appeared to belong to the establishment, 
but the whole stock of fruit, as far as we could see, wasn't worth ten 
dollars. 

"The houses are not very substantial, and the Doctor said that an 
ordinary building in Sarawak ought not to cost over fifty dollars, while 
a cheap one, sufficient for protection against the weather, could be built 
for live or ten. There are a few substantial buildings ; one is called 
the Government House, and is where the governor and his officials live; 
and there is an English Protestant church and mission. There is a con- 
siderable population of Mohammedans here, and they have a mosque 
where they go to worship every Friday. Friday, you know, is the 
Moslem Sunday, and on that day the faithful followers of Mohammed 
are unwilling to do any hard work; Fred says it must be Sunday all 
the time for a good many of them, if we are to judge by their perpetual 
idleness. But there isn't much inducement for a man to work here, 
when a very little will support him. He does not need any thick 
clothes where there is no winter, and if it were not for the rules of po- 
liteness some of them wouldn't wear any clothes at all. 

"We should have been surprised to see the English flag flying over 
the place if we had not already learned something about the history of 
Sarawak. The town w r as formerly known as Kuching, and to this day 
some of the natives call it by that name. The river was the resort of 
the Malay pirates, who used to plunder all the coast and make it impos- 
sible for the natives to live there. The natives are called Dyaks ; they 
seem to belong to both the Mongolian and Malay races, as they have the 
oblique eyes of the former, with the complexion and hair of the latter. 
They are said to ,be an honest and inoffensive people, and for this reason 
they were robbed by the Malays in former times, and are now cheated 
by both Malays and Chinese. They have a good deal of ingenuity about 
them, and some of their work would do credit to civilized people. 

"We saw a party of them climbing a tree just back of the town to 



HOW THE DYAKS CLIMB TREES. 



23 



get some cocoa-nnts; it was straight as an arrow, and about two feet in 
diameter, and hadn't a branch for at least forty feet. How do you sup- 
pose they did it ? 

" They made some pegs of pieces from a bamboo pole ; then they 
drove one of them into the tree about three feet from the ground, and 
another the same distance higher up. Next they took a long pole, also 
of bamboo, rested one end of it on the ground, and lashed it firmly to 
the two pegs. Then a man stood on the lowest peg and drove another 
in at about the level of his face, and as soon as it was driven he lashed 
the pole to it. So he went on and 
on, and when the pole gave out an- 
other was passed up and lashed in 
the same way as the first. It took 
them about fifteen minutes to make 
a very nice ladder — one side being 
the tree, and the other the bamboo 
pole ; and as soon as they had got 
to the lower branches of the tree, 
the nuts came tumbling to the 
ground, and the man scrambled 
down after them. The whole thing 
appeared very easy and simple, but 
it would take an American some 
time to accomplish it. 

" The Dyaks are very fond of 
ornaments, and where they can af- 
ford it they cover their necks with 
beads and brass wire, and decorate 
their arms with large rings of brass 
or silver. Most of them wear gay- 
colored handkerchiefs on their heads, and it is easy to distinguish them 
from the foreign Malays by this mark alone. We saw one Dyak youth 
of ten or twelve years, who had an intelligent face and bright, flashing 
eyes; he belonged to one of the hill tribes, and had come down from his 
home in the mountains with his father to see the strangers on the coast. 
His hair floated over his shoulders in great masses, and his ears had rings 
in them that looked as though they weighed a pound. His only cloth- 
ing, apart from the rings and beads and handkerchief, was a strip of cot- 
ton cloth around his waist ; and he carried a spear to indicate that he 
belonged to one of the best families of the country." 




A DYAK YOUTH. 



24 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



CHAPTER II. 

AN EXCURSION IN BORNEO. -STORY OF RAJAH BROOKE. 

OUR young friends greatly desired to visit the interior of Borneo ; but 
as the Osprey would only remain a couple of days at Sarawak, and 
they wished to continue in her to Manilla, they were obliged to abandon 
the idea. The Doctor engaged a native boat to take them a short dis- 





SCENE ON THE RIVER 



tance up the Sarawak River, so that they could see something of the great 
island away from the sea, and they gladly accepted the proposal. " Half 
a loaf is better than no bread," said Frank, and his opinion was promptly 
echoed by his cousin. The captain of the Osprey agreed to wait for 
them until the afternoon of the second day, and they promised to be 
back early enough to allow the ship to get to sea before dark. 

A Dyak village about thirty miles above Sarawak was their destina- 



A EIVER JOURNEY IN BORNEO. 25 

tion; the crew of the boat was composed of half a dozen natives with 
strong arms, and as they had promise of a liberal payment on condition 
of making a rapid journey, they applied all their strength to the oars. 
Luckily, they were favored by the tide, and by a breeze blowing up 
stream, and very soon after getting under way they spread the sail of 
coarse matting and laid their oars at one side. The Dyaks along the 
coast are excellent sailors, but their boats are not built after the most 
approved models of naval architecture ; under the best circumstances, 
they rarely make more than six miles an hour, and the most of them 
are satisfied with three or four. It took about seven hours of rowing 
and sailing for our friends to reach the village ; but the time passed 
pleasantly, as there was an abundance of things of interest on the shore, 
and each bend of the stream revealed something new. The forest was 
dense, and contained several varieties of trees they had not yet seen, and 
there was an apparent abundance of animal and insect life. Every few 
minutes the boys would catch sight of a bright-winged bird or a gaudy 
butterfly, and they managed to secure several specimens of the latter. 

While they were halted for a few moments under a tree that over- 
hung the water, Fred's attention was attracted by a butterfly that fluttered 
among the leaves for a moment, and then seemed to disappear like the 
harlequin in a play. While he was looking for it there came another and 
then another, and each of them in turn vanished like the first. Frank 
was as much excited as Fred over the strange phenomenon, and asked- the 
Doctor what could have become of the butterflies, as he was certain they 
had not flown away, and he could not see them among the leaves. 

" Look closely at the leaves," said the Doctor, " and perhaps you will 
find them." 

"I've looked at every leaf," Fred answered; "but there is no butterfly 
to be seen." 

"I've found one," said Frank, as he took what appeared to be a leaf 
between his thumb and forefinger. 

Sure enough, he had secured his prize, and then he pointed to another, 
which Fred immediately captured. Then the Doctor explained that they 
had found the famous Leaf Butterfly of Borneo, that has the peculiarity 
of resembling almost to perfection a dead leaf of the tree he inhabits. 
" You observe," said he, " that his two sets of wings have a dark line run- 
ning along them from point to point that exactly resembles the midrib 
of a leaf, and there are lines running out from this centre that correspond 
to its veins. When the wings are folded, the lower end of them imitates 
the stem, and touches the twig when, the butterfly is at rest ; and their 



26 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



upper extremity is pointed in exact imitation of the point of the leaf. It 
is the habit of this butterfly to settle where there are several dead or 
partly withered leaves, and you must have very sharp eyes to distinguish 
him from one of them." 

While the Doctor was talking the boys observed that their specimens 
were not exactly alike, and they called his attention to their discovery. 




LEAF BUTTERFLY IN FLIGHT AND REPOSE. 



The latter explained that it was difficult to find an exact resemblance in a 
dozen or more specimens, and they appeared to vary about as the leaves 
themselves were varied. It was a provision of nature for the protection 
and preservation of the butterfly, as he was enabled to escape many of his 
enemies by adapting his appearance to his retreat. 



SEEING AN ORANG-OUTANG. 27 

" I suppose," said one of the bo} r s, " it is on the same principle that 
rabbits in our own country are brown in summer and white in winter. 
Many a bunny has saved himself from the hunters by changing from 
brown to white when the snow falls." 

The two butterflies were carefully preserved along with those already 
captured, and as soon as the men were rested the boat moved on. Sud- 
denly one of the Dyaks called out, "Mias! mias!" and pointed to the top 
of a tree where there was an animal of considerable size swinging from 
one limb to another, and apparently enjoying himself. Our friends look- 
ed, and the boys hardly needed the Doctor's explanation that "mias" is 
the Malay name of the famous orang-outang. 

"What a splendid fellow he is," said Frank, "and what a pity we can- 
not capture him ! He looks as though he was six feet high at least." 

" The gentleman we met as we went down the coast of Sumatra told 
us that none had ever been caught more than four feet and two inches 
high," responded Fred, " but this one certainly appears as large as a full- 
grown man." 

" Probably a measurement would tell a different story," Doctor Bron- 
son remarked. "You know," he added, "that the largest fishes are the 
ones that are not caught, or get no farther than being hooked and lost." 

By this time the mias had seen the boat and taken alarm for his safe- 
ty; with one swing he dropped from the limb where he had been exer- 
cising, and disappeared in the forest. The boys wished to land and pur- 
sue him, but the Doctor told them it would not be of the least use to do 
so, as he could easily elude them. "He can travel faster," he continued, 
" among the limbs of the trees than you could possibly go on the ground ; 
he swings from one tree to another, then runs to the farther side along 
the horizontal limbs, and is ready for another plunge. We will stick to 
the river, and lose no time in reaching our destination." 

At a bend in the stream they saw some cattle grazing on a little 
island a short distance from a large tree that stood with its roots in the 
water. The Doctor said the island was in all probability a floating one 
that was attached to the bottom of the river by the long roots of the 
plants growing on it, and so flexible that it could rise and fall with the 
tide, or with the floods and droughts of the river. " These floating isl- 
ands," he explained, " are by no means uncommon in tropical countries; 
there are many in the Amazon and its tributaries, and some of them are 
miles in extent. They are generally attached to the river-bottom, but o& 
casionally they become separated and float away with the current, and in- 
stances are not unknown of cattle being swept out to sea on them." 



28 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 




A FLOATING ISLAND. 



When they reached the village, whither they were bound, the boat was 
run to the bank, and the three travellers stepped on shore. The natives 
came down to meet them, and stood at a respectful distance till the orang- 
kaya, or head-man, made his appearance. Pie was dressed in gay-colored 
robes, and his head was wrapped with at least half a dozen handkerchiefs 
of silk and bandanna; Fred thought a dozen would not be too large a 
guess for the brass rings about his arms, and Frank thought they must be 
a heavy burden to wear all the time. The boys and men were similarly 
adorned, and Frank thought he had found a partial solution of the ques- 
tion, "What becomes of all the brass pins?" If they were used for mak- 
ing Dyak ornaments, the consumption must be enormous. 

The chief led the way to the " head-house," or strangers' lodging, 
which is in every Dyak village, and the whole population followed to 
have a look at the visitors. The boys observed that the Dyaks were gen- 
erally well formed, and had more intelligent expressions on their faces 
than the majority of the natives of Java or the Malay peninsula, and there 
was a playful manner among the younger portion that greatly amused 
them. The Doctor said the Dyak youths had a great number of games 
and sports that were quite unknown to the rest of the Malay race, and in 
this particular they resembled the Chinese and Japanese. They have 
spinning-tops similar to our own, and they have a game very much like 



SCENES IN A DYAK VILLAGE. 29 

" base ball," in which they display a great deal of skill. Many of their 
sports are of an athletic character, and they are constantly exhibiting 
their ability to run, jump, throw the spear, toss heavy stones, and perform 
other feats that require more or less muscle. In this way their strength 
is developed, and they lay the foundation of the endurance for which 
they are celebrated. 

The head house proved to be a circular building about thirty feet 
in diameter; it stood on posts, and had a platform running all around 
it, where persons could sit in the daytime or sleep at night. The head 
house is not only a lodging-place for strangers, but it serves as the coun- 
cil-chamber for any public business, and is the dormitory of many of the 
young men, especially in time of war, when they are liable to be sum- 
moned at short notice. Sometimes it is the largest building in a village, 
and the inhabitants take their turns in keeping it in order. 

There was no one to act as interpreter between the strangers and 
the people of the village, and the conversation was conducted by signs. 
Where neither side could say anything, the talk was necessarily brief : 
the Doctor made the chief understand that he had brought nothing to 
sell, and did not wish to buy rice or anything else; and therefore he 
had no occasion to occupy their time. Then the chief ordered the 
strangers to be served with boiled rice and tea, and he also commanded 
some of the young men to exhibit their skill in the various Dyak games. 
An hour was spent in this sport, and then the conference came to an 
end ; the display on the part of the Dyak youths consisted of the games 
already mentioned, together with pulling at a rope somewhat after the 
manner of the well-known " tug of war." The rope was made of bam- 
boo shreds tightly twisted, and its rough surface furnished an excellent 
hold for the hands of the contestants. 

When the sports were over, the Doctor and the boys took a stroll 
among the rice-fields in the neighborhood of the village; and by the 
time it was ended the sun was setting. Near the village they crossed 
a bridge of bamboo, the first of the kind the boys had ever seen, and 
they examined it with a good deal of curiosity. A couple of the longest 
and strongest bamboos were thrown over the stream and bound together 
with thongs of bamboo - leaves twisted together, and a third bamboo 
served as a hand-rail. From an overhanging tree three or four smaller 
bamboos were attached to steady the bridge and keep it in place, and it 
was further upheld by bamboo poles fastened into the bank. The Doc- 
tor said there were hundreds of these bridges in Borneo, especially among 
the mountains ; and though they were liable to tremble under the feet 



30 



THE BOY TEAVELLEES IN THE FAE EAST. 



of those who crossed them, they were quite secure. The Dyaks find the 
bamboo no less useful than do the inhabitants of other Eastern countries > 




BRIDGE OF BAMBOO IN BORNEO. 



and it would be a serious calamity to them if they were suddenly de- 
prived of it. 

They slept in the head house at night, and were off by dawn on their 
return to meet the Osprey. The Doctor told the boys that if they had 
had time they would have visited the diamond-fields of the upper Sara- 
wak, where some very fine stones are occasionally secured. The diamond 
washings are mostly conducted by Chinese, but they are not said to be 
very profitable ; now and then a rich deposit is found, but for the most 
part the fields on the Sarawak do not more than pay the expense of 
working them. In other parts of Borneo they are richer, and some very 
large diamonds have been discovered. 

While descending the river, the Doctor called attention to a climbing 
plant that completely covered a tree overhanging the water. " It be- 
longs," said he, " to the family of the pitcher-plants, but is not a very 
good specimen." 

One of the boys asked what the pitcher-plant was. 

" Its name indicates its character," replied the Doctor. " It has a . 
cup, or pitcher, hanging down very much as a pitcher does when you 
hold it by the handle ; some of the plants are literally covered with these 
pitchers, and they will generally be found full of water, even when there 
has been no rain for weeks. The finest of them are in the mountain 



PRODUCTS OF THE FOREST IN BORNEO. 



31 



regions of Borneo ; there is one known as the Nepenthes Rajah that will 
hold two quarts of water in its pitcher, and there is another nearly as 
large. They are of great advantage to travellers, and many a man has 
been saved from suffering, and perhaps death, by means of this plant." 
As the men wanted to rest a short time, the boat was brought to shore 




REMARKABLE BEETLES IN BORNEO. 



32 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

near the tree that supported the wonderful plant, and thus the boys had 
an opportunity to examine it. While they were looking at it they dis- 
covered some curious beetles on the trunk of the tree, and succeeded in 
capturing several of them ; some of their prizes had long antennse, or 
feelers, and one had a pair of claws like a lobster, while all of them were 
beautifully marked or colored. Their capture led to a talk about the 
insect life of Borneo, and the boys learned that the country was partic- 
ularly rich in beetles, butterflies, and similar products : more than two 
thousand varieties of beetles alone had been found there, with a propor- 
tionate number of butterflies. 

" And if you are not satisfied with such small game," said the Doctor, 
"you can have the elephant — who is identical with the elephant of India 
— and at least ten varieties of monkeys. Then there is a species of pan- 
ther ; there are deer and wild cattle ; and if you like the sport of hunting 
wild pigs, you can be accommodated. Bats and squirrels abound, and the 
name of the birds of Borneo is legion ; there are crocodiles in the riv- 
ers, great pythons in the forests, and a liberal variety of smaller snakes — 
enough to fill the wants of the most fastidious." 

" If that's the case," said Frank, " I don't believe I care to stay very 
long in Borneo. I don't mind ordinary hunting ; in fact, I should like it ; 
but when it comes to a battle with a python I would rather be left out." 

Fred was of the same opinion, and thought that anybody could have 
his fill of hunting among the elephants and wild pigs. The Doctor said 
the pursuit of these latter animals was much more difficult in Borneo 
than in India, owing to the comparatively small part of the country that 
had been cleared. He added that it was very hard to keep up with a 
pig in the forest, as he can dart under the trees and keep out of the way 
while the hunter is toiling on, and perhaps finds the bushes so dense that 
he must cut away the vines and creeping plants before he can proceed. 

Then the conversation changed, and for the rest of the way the Doc- 
tor interested the boys with the romantic story of an Englishman who 
became an Eastern prince. It was about as follows : 

" Borneo has three distinct governments. First there is the Kingdom 
of Borneo, ruled over by a king, or sultan ; it embraces the north-western 
and central part of the island, and is divided into several subordinate 
principalities. Then there are the Dutch possessions on the east, south, 
and west coasts, comprising three provinces under the control of the 
Dutch Governor of Java ; and, lastly, there is the independent State of 
Sarawak, with an English ruler. 

" It is concerning this State and its ruler that we are about to talk. 



THE ROMANTIC STOKY OF EAJAH BEOOKE. 33 

In the first quarter of this century there was an Englishman, named 
James Brooke, in the service of the East India Company ; he left it 
about 1830, and made a voyage to China, and on his way there he visited 
Borneo. There he saw how badly the natives were treated by the Malay 
pirates, who devastated the coast and carried the people away to sell as 
slaves, after robbing them of all they possessed. He conceived the idea 
of forming a civilized government for the people, and with this object 
in view returned to England, where he spent several years in prepara- 
tions ; he bought a yacht out of the royal squadron, and obtained the 
same privileges for her as for a regular man-of-war. He came here with 
his yacht in 1838, and attacked the pirates wherever he could find them ; 
their primitive boats and arms were no match for him, and in a year or 
two he had freed this part of the coast from their depredations. 

" In return for his assistance, the prince, or rajah of Sarawak, made 
Brooke his successor, with the full approval of the Sultan of Borneo, 
and gave him command of the army. English ships and men were sent 
out to assist him, and while they were attending to the pirates the new 
rajah went to work to teach the natives how to live like civilized people. 
He framed laws for them, established a regular government with courts 
of justice, built roads, developed trade, and in a good many ways made 
the natives feel that he was their friend." 

" How did the English Government like this ?" one of the boys asked. 
"Did they approve of one of their nation becoming an Eastern prince?" 

" The Government was generally favorable to it, as it was in the in- 
terest of peace," the Doctor answered, " and besides, it was extending the 
power of the British Crown. But there was considerable opposition to it 
among some of the English, and in 1847 Brooke was obliged to go to 
England to defend himself against the attacks upon his policy.. He suc- 
ceeded in establishing his claims to consideration, and received the honor 
of knighthood, so that he was afterward called Sir James Brooke, though 
he is better known as Rajah Brooke. A staff of officers under pay of 
the British Government was sent to assist him, and the State of Sarawak 
was regarded as a British dependency, though it was and is nominally 
independent, and can do as it pleases. 

" Under the rule of Rajah Brooke the country prospered, and has 
continued to prosper. Sir James died in 1868, after establishing his 
nephew as his successor, and the latter rules here now under his uncle's 
old title. The nephew is quite as philanthropic as the uncle was, and 
has proved himself an intelligent ruler; the trade of the country in- 
creases every year by the development of its resources, and from all we 

3 



34 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

can learn or observe, the inhabitants have reason to be grateful to the 
Englishmen who came among them and taught them the arts of peace 
instead of war." 

"What is the trade of Sarawak?" said Fred, "and how is it carried 
on?" 

"It is principally in the products of the forests and of the mines,' 5 
replied the Doctor, " and the latter are especially valuable. Antimony 
is abundant, and it is from Borneo that England derives her principal 
supply of that metal. There are numerous deposits of coal, and large 
quantities are taken out every year and sent to the markets of the East- 
ern seas. Those immense piles of coal that we saw at Singapore proba- 
bly came from Borneo, and the business of that one port alone is enough 
to make the fortune of a small State like Sarawak. The forests are full 
of valuable timber, such as ebony, iron -wood, sandal -wood, and teak; 
and there is a considerable product of gutta-percha, India-rubber, and 
camphor. The export trade is said to amount to more than $3,000,000 
annually ; the most of it goes to Singapore, and from that point the 
goods are reshipped to Europe." 

Frank wished to know the extent of the State, and its population. 

" The dominions of Rajah Brooke," said the Doctor, " extend about 
300 miles along the coast, and inland, at the farthest point, about 100 
miles. The population is said to be 300,000, and is composed of Dyaks, 
Malays, and Chinese. The only hostility ever shown to the first Rajah 
Brooke was by the Chinese at the time of the outbreak of the war be- 
tween England and China, in 1857. Two thousand Chinese attacked his 
house, and he was compelled to swim across the river to save his life. 
The insurrection lasted for some weeks, but was finally suppressed with 
the assistance of English troops sent from Singapore. 

"The religion of the people is principally Mohammedan, but there is 
perfect religious freedom through the whole province. There are several 
Protestant missionary stations in the interior, some under English, and 
others under American management. One of the latter was the scene 
of the labors of Rev. Mr. Thomson, an American missionary, who spent 
many years in Borneo ; he formed a vocabulary of the Dyak language, 
and did much for the education of the people. 

"An enterprising American, Mr. J. W. Torrey, of Boston, endeavored 
to follow the example of Rajah Brooke and make a colony of his coun- 
trymen, and establish an independent State in another part of Borneo ; 
he obtained the title of Rajah of Ambong and Maroodu, with a grant 
of territory, from the Sultan of Borneo, and quite likely would have sue- 



AN AMERICAN RAJAH. 



35 



ceeded in his plans if he had possessed the same wealth as James Brooke, 
and been properly supported by his Government. The latter always had 
all the capital he wished, together with the support of the British Gov- 
ernment, while Torrey had no fortune with which to purchase ships and 
employ the needed men and officers ; and, furthermore, the President and 
Congress of the United States gave him no assistance. He still holds his 
title and his claims to territory, and he occasionally visits Borneo to make 
sure of their continuance; but up to the present time he has not estab- 
lished his government, and every year makes it less and less probable 




AMERICAN MISSIONARY STATION IN BORNEO. 



that he will succeed in his hopes of founding an American province in 
the Malay Archipelago." 

" There's the Osprey with steam up," exclaimed Fred, as a bend in the 
river brought them in sight of their ship. 

"Yes, there she is," echoed Frank; ''we're in time to keep our prom- 
ise to the captain, and she's ready to sail as soon as we're on board." 

The men paddled vigorously, and in a few minutes our friends were 
climbing the gangway-ladder. As their feet touched the deck, the cap- 
tain ordered the anchor lifted, and in a short time they were steaming 
down the river, and were at sea before the setting of the sun. It happen- 



36 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

ed that the spectacle of sunset on that occasion was particularly beautiful ; 
the light seemed to flash in all directions from behind the clouds, and 
formed a pathway of fire along the gently undulating waters. The boys 
agreed that it was the most brilliant sunset they had hitherto seen at sea, 
and they lingered on deck till the last ray of light had disappeared, and 
the stars came out in their places in the sky 



SUNSET IN THE CHINA SEA. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 



37 



CHAPTER III. 

ARRIVAL AT MANILLA.— FIRST DAY ON SHORE. 

THE Osprey steamed on the next day and the next, and on the third 
morning after leaving Sarawak the boys found themselves entering 
a broad bay, which the captain told them was the Bay of Manilla, in the 
Philippine Islands. 

"It's large enough to hold all the ships in the world," Frank remark- 
ed, as he looked around him, and gradually took in the extent of the sheet 
of water. 

"Yes," said Fred, "provided they did not object to a little crowding 
here and there. It seems to me larger than the Bay of Yeddo, in Japan." 




MAP OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 



"You are quite right," chimes in the Doctor. "It is larger than the 
Bay of Yeddo, and Frank is not much out of the way when he thinks all 
the ships of the world could assemble here at once. The Bay of Manilla 
is 120 marine miles in circumference, and its waters wash the shores of 
five provinces. There is good anchorage in the greater part of it, but 
owing to its enormous size, it is less secure than a smaller bay would be." 



38 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



The captain of the Osprey was standing near them during this conver- 
sation, and. nodded assent to the Doctor's statement. "Manilla has no 
harbor, properly speaking," he remarked, " and the only place for ships, 
till they enter the river, is in the open roadstead. During the north-east 




SCENE ON MANILLA BAT. 



monsoon we are all right, and can drop our anchors a mile or so in front 
of the city the same as we do at Batavia ; but when the south-west mon- 
soon is blowing, and in all the time of the change of monsoons, the road- 
stead is dangerous. Then we go to Cavite, a naval port seven miles down 
the coast, and all our cargo must be landed there or brought to Manilla in 
lighters. ~No ship of more than 400 tons can enter the river at Manilla 
safely, as there is not sufficient water on the bar. We shall anchor in 
front of the town, and you will go on shore in a small boat." 

The entire shores of the bay were not distinctly visible at the same 
moment, owing to the great distance across, but what there was to be seen 
was quite picturesque. In the background was a range of mountains, in 
front of them was a table-land, and in the immediate foreground lay a 
stretch of low coast covered with tropical vegetation, among which the 
bamboo and the palm were prominent. As they approached near the 
land our friends could see that it was intersected by numerous canals, and 
the captain told them that in the rainy season these canals overflowed 
their banks, and converted all the low-land into a vast lake. When the 



KEGULATIONS OF THE PORT OF MANILLA. 39 

water recedes, the moist land is planted with rice, and in a few days what 
was before a wide stretch of water becomes a most luxuriant field. The 
rice product of the Philippines is very large, and the soil seems admirably 
adapted to the culture of the article that forms the daily food of more 
than half the human race. 

There were but few ships at anchor in the roadstead when the Osprey 
came to a halt at the spot her captain had designated, and the signs of 
great business activity were altogether wanting. The Doctor informed 
his young companions that the trade of Manilla was less than that of Ba- 
tavia or Singapore, and hence the smaller number of ships in port. The 
Philippine Islands belong to Spain, but there is not a great deal of com- 
merce between the two countries, since neither produces much that the 
other wants. Down to a very recent date there was a heavy protective 
duty that was intended to favor Spanish ships to the detriment of others, 
but somehow, while it kept off the vessels of other nationalities, it did not 
bring as many Spanish ones as was expected. 

The customs duties were formerly seven per cent, for merchandise 
imported in Spanish ships, and double that figure if the ships were for- 
eign. Then they had a system of levying tonnage dues on foreign ships, 
in addition to the duties on the cargo ; a ship in ballast paid a certain 
rate, while a cargo ship was taxed about double. If a ship in ballast land- 
ed the smallest parcel of any kind whatever, she was immediately taxed 
at the higher rate; and it was said that the officials used sometimes to 
bribe a sailor on board a ship to carry a small bundle on shore, so that 
they could have the pretext of levying the high charge. The conse- 
quence was that foreign ships avoided Manilla as much as possible, and 
only went there when specially chartered. In 1869 a decree was issued 
making a uniform duty on all goods, no matter under what flag they were 
imported, abolishing all export duties, and doing away with the objec- 
tionable features of the port charges. 

Hardly was the anchor down before a boat from the custom-house 
came along-side, and the officials mounted to the deck. A little time was 
required to take the declarations of the strangers relative to the objects of 
their visit, and the time they intended to remain ; the Spanish in the Phil- 
ippines have pretty nearly the same regulations concerning strangers as 
the Dutch in Java, and for a similar object — to keep the country for 
themselves ; and if a visitor does not like the restrictions thrown around 
him, he is at full liberty to leave. 

When the formalities were over, our friends entered a boat and were 
rowed ashore. Manilla stands on both banks of the river Pasig, but the 



40 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

larger portion is on the southern side. There is a breakwater at the 
mouth of the river, to prevent injury from the waves that sometimes 
sweep in during the change of the monsoons. On more than one occa- 
sion the water has flooded all the lower parts of the city ; but at the time 
of which we are speaking the weather was at its best, and the breakwater 
was more ornamental than useful. 

The boys were amused at the appearance of the houses along the 
banks ; they had expected to see broad windows that would give as much 
ventilation as possible, and also allow strangers to have a peep at the 
internal arrangements without taking the trouble to enter. But they 







COAST SCENE IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 



found, on the contrary, that the windows were generally narrow, and few 
in number, and the inhabitants consoled themselves for the lack of ven- 
tilation by spending a goodly portion of their time on the balcony. The 
roofs were covered with red tiles after the Spanish manner, and the 
Doctor remarked that the Spaniards in the Philippines, like the Dutch 
in Java and the English in India, had brought many of their home cus- 
toms with them when settling in the eastern half of the world. 

They passed a barge laden with merchandise from one of the ships 
at anchor in the roadstead ; it was propelled by men with long poles, 
which they fixed in the bottom of the river after the manner of the " set- 



HOTELS IN MANILLA. 



41 



ting poles" formerly in use on some of the streams of America. A broad 
plank was attached to each side of the barge just above the water-line, 
•and on this plank two men walked as they pushed against the firmly fixed 
poles. The barge was a clumsy affair, with a roof of pandanus leaves, 
woven together and arranged in sections, so that it could be lifted off to 
receive cargo. There w r as a broad rudder at the stern of the barge, and 
the steersman stood under the mat roof, so that he was quite sheltered 
from the rays of the tropical sun. 

There were many native craft in the river, and a few vessels of for- 
eign rig ; but all the latter were of small tonnage, and evidently em- 
ployed in coast service among the islands. The boat with the three 
travellers pushed on to the custom-house, where the baggage was in- 
spected, and, on being found to contain nothing liable to duty, was al- 
lowed to pass. Then the strangers were at liberty to seek a hotel, and 
they lost no time in doing so. 

There are not many visitors in Manilla, and consequently the hotel ac- 
commodations are limited ; there are only two establishments worthy the 
name, and even these are far from equal to the pretentious hostelries of 




BARGE AND HOUSE ON" THE PASIG 



Madrid and Seville. Frank remarked that they would be quite content 
as long as they had a roof to shelter them, and enough to eat ; Fred 
pointed to a large hole above his bed where several tiles had been re- 

3* 



42 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

moved, and suggested that the shelter was not very promising at the 
outset. The attention of the hotel-keeper was called to the opening, and 
he quietly remarked that the rainy season was over, and the hole would 
do no harm. 

The hotel was not in Manilla proper, but in the suburb of Bidondo, 
where most of the foreigners reside, and where the bulk of the commerce 
is conducted. It is on the northern bank of the Pasig, and those who 
live there are accustomed to regard themselves as of more consequence 
than the dwellers on the opposite side of the stream. Back of Bidondo 
there are some pleasant villages and private residences, and several of the 
latter are fitted up with a considerable attempt at luxury. The boys 
thought the houses were not as comfortable as in Singapore and Ba- 
tavia } and the Doctor told them that Manilla was a more expensive place 
to live in than either of the cities they had named, and consequently the 
same amount of money would procure fewer necessaries or luxuries of 
life. Those who had only fixed salaries to rely upon frequently found 
it difficult to make both ends meet ; and even the merchants were com- 
pelled to practise more economy than they desired. The houses were 
generally of two stories, but the lower one was rarely inhabited, on ac- 
count of the dampness that rose constantly from the ground. It was 
generally used as a stable, and consequently the occupants of the upper 
floor had the advantage of a variety of smells without extra charge. 

Doctor Bronson had a letter to a gentleman residing in Manilla, and 
as soon as the party was settled at the hotel, he set out to deliver it. 
During his absence the boys took a stroll in the neighborhood, and 
crossed the bridge that leads to the city proper, on the southern bank 
of the Pasig. 

There was formerly a stone bridge of ten arches that spanned the 
river ; it was erected more than two hundred years ago, and was regarded 
with pride by the inhabitants, but the earthquake of 1863 destroyed it. 
An iron suspension-bridge was constructed in its place, and the most of the 
piers of the old structure were removed in order to facilitate navigation. 

Prank and Fred found many things that were new to them in their 
walk. They had not gone a dozen yards before they met a man whose 
appearance raised a smile on their faces, but they carefully concealed it 
till he had passed. He was dressed in what he doubtless regarded as 
the perfection of wardrobe, and swung a light cane with all the dignity 
of the most accomplished promenader of Broadway or Fifth Avenue. 
His trousers were of a checked pattern, and his feet — bare of stockings — ■ 
were thrust into patent-leather shoes. The rest of his costume consisted 



STRANGE COSTUMES. 



43 




OLD BKIDGE AT MANILLA. 



of a shirt, a stove-pipe hat, an eye-glass, and a cigar; and the novel feature 
of the dress was that the shirt was worn outside the trousers, and had no 
necktie. The boys at first thought they had encountered some one who 
did not know how to clothe himself properly ; but they soon ascertained 
that it is the custom in Manilla to wear the shirt outside the trousers, and 
the man they met was a dandy who had gotten himself up "regardless of 
expense." 

A few steps farther on they met a different sort of inhabitant — a 
native girl with a jar of water on her head, 
and bearing a large leaf in one hand. She 
was tall and well -formed, and her dress was 
very simple ; it consisted of a light chemise, 
and a skirt that showed her bare feet as she 
walked gracefully along, and paused to take a 
glance at the strangers. Her thick hair was 
braided into a heavy tress, which formed an 
excellent cushion for the jar to rest upon; 
and her complexion was so light that Frank 
could hardly believe she was not a Spaniard, 
rather than a native of the islands. After- 
ward they met many more of the same type ; 
and as they also encountered Spaniards and 
half-castes, they were not long in learning 
how to distinguish the various inhabitants of 
Manilla. 

On their return to the hotel, they found 




4 MANILLA DANDY. 



44 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



the Doctor was there before them, as the gentleman he sought was not 
at his office, and therefore his visit had been very brief. They sat down 
to lunch, and just as they finished it there was a call for the Doctor. It 
proved to be from Mr. Segovia, a partner of the gentleman to whom he 
brought the letter, and he kindly offered to show any courtesy to the 
strangers in his power. 

"I am afraid," said he, "that you will find Manilla a dull place. We 

have no theatre at present, and the 
newspapers contain nothing you 
would care to read; the only relief 
we have to the prevailing monotony 
is the religious processions, and I be- 
lieve there will be none of these for 
two or three weeks. The amuse- 
ment of the people is in cock-fight- 
ing, a vice that was introduced by 
the Spaniards, and has been adopted 
by every native that can afford to 
keep a bird. Some of them never 
go out-of-doors without their favor- 
ite birds in their arms; and there is 
hardly an hour of the day or night 
when there is not a fight going on 
in a dozen places in Manilla." 

After some further talk about 
the city and what it contained, it 
was agreed that the gentleman would 
call late in the afternoon with a car- 
riage to take the Doctor and his 
young companions to the evening 
promenade. The arrangement con- 
cluded, the gentleman retired, and 
the party sat down on the veranda 
to pass away the hot hours of the 
middle of the day and talk about the sights of the city. 

The boys brought out their note-books to record what they had seen 
in their morning's walk; and when they had finished, they had a conver- 
sation with the Doctor relative to the Philippine Islands and their his- 
tory since the time the Spaniards went there. They were astonished to 
find that the group comprised more than 1200 islands ; but their sur- 




W/#*&2' 



A NATIVE GIRL IN MANILLA. 



DISCOVEEY OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 



45 







NATIVE AMUSEMENTS. 



prise was somewhat diminished when Doctor Bronson told them that 
only twenty of the whole number were of any consequence, the rest be- 
ing principally rocky islets. The entire group was said to have an area 
of about 120,000 square miles, and a population of from five to six mill- 
ions. Some of the islands are independent, but the largest and most im- 
portant belong to Spain, and have so belonged for more than three hun- 
dred years. 

" The group was discovered," said the Doctor, " in 1521 by the cele- 
brated navigator Magellan, and occupied by the Spaniards about thirty 
years later. There have never been more than 10,000 Spaniards here at 
any one time, and probably there are not to-day over 5000 or 6000 per- 
sons of pure Spanish blood in all this region. For a long time the most 
of the trade of the Philippines was with Mexico, and once a year a ship 
or galleon was sent from Manilla to Acapulco with a load of silks and 
other valuable products of the East, which were sold for more than twice 
their cost. The last of these voyages was in 1811, owing to a royal de- 
cree that broke up the monopoly held by the rulers of the islands. Some- 
times two or more galleons sailed together ; the voyage across the Pacific 
Ocean was frequently more than one hundred days in length, and in- 
stances have been known of one hundred and fifty days being taken be- 
tween Manilla and Acapnlco. Now a sailing-ship that would not make 
the voyage in forty-five or fifty days would be considered slow, and a 
steamer would accomplish it in twenty-five." 



46 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



One of the boys wished to know what the galleons brought back from 
Mexico in return for the silks they carried there. 

" The greater part of their cargoes," was the reply, " was in silver 
dollars, and it is from this course of trade that we now find the Mexican 
dollar in such general circulation in the Far East. Then they brought 
quicksilver, which was sold in China at a large profit ; and they brought 
cochineal and other dye-stuffs. Sometimes a single cargo would sell for 
$2,000,000, but this was unusual; the ordinary value of a cargo was 




SPANISH GALLEONS ON THEIR WAT OVER THE PACIFIC. 



about $500,000 at starting, and the returns were double that amount. 
There was very little produce of the islands in these cargoes, but mainly 
the silks and other Chinese goods which had been bought by the mer- 
chants of Manilla with gold-dust, sapan-woocl, skins, and edible birds'- 
nests, together with the silver dollars, of which the Chinese are very 
fond. 

" The Spaniards kept a monopoly of their trade down to the begin- 
ning of the present century. All other Europeans were carefully ex- 
cluded from the islands until 1809, when an English house was allowed 



TRAVELLING IN THE INTERIOR OF LUZON. 



47 



to establish itself here, and this concession was followed in 1814 by per- 
mission for all foreigners to come here under certain restrictions. The 
Spaniards always reserve the right to send away any foreigner who makes 
himself obnoxious, but the occasions when they do so are very rare. Even 
at the present clay it is difficult for a foreigner to obtain permission to 
visit the interior of the island ; and as late as twenty years ago there was 
a royal order that forbade their going there under any pretext whatever." 

"Can we go there?" Fred asked. "I should so much like to see the 
interior of the island we are on." 

"We have not time," the Doctor answered, "to go through the whole 
of the island, even if we could obtain permission ; but I dare say we can 
make some short excursions, so that we will not be entirely ignorant of 
the Philippines when we go away." 

After some further talk about the country they were in, the party sep- 
arated, in order to follow the custom of Manilla, and devote an hour or 
two to sleep before going on their evening drive. 




MOUTH OF THE BAY OF MANILLA. 



4:8 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



CHAPTER IV. 

AN EVENING PROMENADE.— VILLAGE LIFE NEAR MANILLA. 

ME. SEGOVIA called at the hotel according to agreement, and found 
the party ready to start on the evening drive. The boys enjoyed 
it greatly, if we are to judge by the following account which they wrote 
after their return : 

"We have found Manilla very interesting, and have seen so much in 
our ride, that we hardly know where to begin. The streets are wide and 
straight, and they have solid sidewalks of stone that remind you of some 




spn 




VIEW OF MANILLA FROM THE BINONDO SUBURB. 



of those in New York or Boston. There is a large square or plaza, with 
a statue of one of the Spanish kings in the centre, and a good many peo- 
ple were gathered there as we drove along one side and stopped a few 
moments to look at the statue. The part of Manilla on the southern 
bank of the river is the military city, and contains the cathedral and other 
churches, together with the government barracks, the custom-house, and 



FEATURES OF A DRIVE IN MANILLA. 49 

several other public buildings ; the Binondo suburb on the north is not so 
well off, and perhaps it is for this reason that the streets are not so well 
paved, and not as regular and wide. But there are more people on the 
north bank than on the south, and the most of the foreigners live there 
and try to enjoy themselves. 

"We went along at a good speed in an open carriage drawn by a pair 
of lively young horses that were said to have been newly imported from 
Australia ; they will lose their spirit after a while in this hot climate, and 
a year or two from now it will not be easy to get them to go faster than a 
slow trot. Everybody takes a drive who can afford it, besides a good 
many who cannot stand the expense. Their doing so has caused a curi- 
ous custom to be adopted by the drivers ; whenever you hire a cab in the 
streets, you must pay for it in advance, or the driver will not go with you. 
The drivers have been cheated so much that they have become suspicious 
and won't trust anybody, and certainly they are not to be blamed. Mr. 
Segovia says that a great many of the Spaniards who come here are with- 
out money or character, and think they have a right to swindle any one 
who will trust them. The merchants are obliged to be very cautious, but 
in spite of all their care they lose a good deal by these adventurers. 

" Every little while in our drive we came to a canal, and a portion of 
the way we followed the banks of the Pasig. The canals are small, and 
only scantily filled with half-stagnant water, and the smells that rise from 
them are anything but nice. Dead dogs and cats were floating on the 
water, but the men rowing the numerous boats did not seem to mind 
them. You can go all around the Binondo suburb in a boat, and some 
day we mean to do so, if we can stand the odors. 

" As we passed near the river we saw a funny sight — a raft of cocoa- 
nuts, with a native on it, floating down the stream. The nuts are tied to- 
gether with pieces of the husk, which are partially detached with a knife, 
and the whole mass is so buoyant that a hundred of them attached to each 
other will support a man. A native starts with a raft of nuts from some- 
where up the river, and floats down to market. He goes to sleep there, 
and lets the current carry him along; and if his conveyance runs oil shore, 
he wakes up, gives it a push out into the stream, and goes to sleep again. 
It is an easy and cheap mode of travelling, and when he has sold his raft, 
he walks home, or works his passage on a boat bound in his direction. 

"Mr. Segovia pointed out the various classes of people in Manilla, and 
it did not take us long to be able to distinguish them from one another. 
He divides them into Spaniards, Creoles, Tagals, Chinese, and Mestizoes ; 
the Tagals are the natives, the Creoles are children of Spanish fathers and 



50 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 




native mothers, and the Mestizoes are of Chinese parentage on one side. 
and native on the other. The word Mestizoes is generally abbreviated 

to " Metis," as our friend ex- 
plained to us, and we will call 
them so in this letter. 

" The first pair he pointed 
out were Spanish Metis, or 
Creoles, and they were dress- 
ed in their best clothes for an 
evening walk. The man wore 
a pair of gay-colored trousers 
that looked as though they 
were made of calico, and he 
had above them a frock like 
a shirt worn outside, of nearly 
the same material as the trou- 
sers. Then he had an umbrel- 
la and a tall hat, and his feet 
were in slippers instead of 
boots. The woman at his side 
was likewise in slippers that 
showed all of her feet except the toes ; she had no bonnet on her head, 
but in its place she wore some flowers and a sort of wreath like a pad. 
There was a bright handker- 
chief around her neck, and 
her dress was of an equally 
gaudy color. These people 
appear to be very fond of 
lively colors and contrasts, if 
we may judge by the univer- 
sal use they make of them. 

" Close behind them was 
another couple that our friend 
said were Chinese Metis, or 
half-breeds. The costume of 
the man was not much unlike 
that of the other, but his trou- 
sers were not as gay, his frock 
was gathered in at the waist, 
and his shirt was white. The 



A CREOLE IN EUROPEAN DRESS. 




SPANISH METIS. 



POSITION OF HALF-CASTES IN MANILLA. 



51 




woman was prettier than the other one, and the handkerchief she wore on 
her head was very becoming ; it fell in graceful folds down to her shoul- 
ders, which were covered with 
a cape of thin muslin, held in 
place by a pin at the throat, 
and her dress was very pretty : 
it consisted of a skirt or native 
sarong, in which there was a 
good deal of red, and over the 
skirt there was a wide sash of 
rich Chinese silk in red and 
yellow stripes. It is wound 
around the waist in such a way 
that it holds the figure quite 
closely, and hangs below the 
knee. Her feet were in slip- 
pers, without stockings, and it 
does not seem to be the fash- 
ion for anybody to put on 
stockings in Manilla, or at least Chinese metis? 

only among the foreigners. 

" Frequently we saw people on horseback, and were told that many 
of them belonged to the wealthy class of the Spanish Metis. Their dress 
was much like that of the pedestrians, except that it was somewhat richer, 
and the woman wore a tall hat like that of the man ; but as the eques- 
trian costume for a lady in Europe or America is generally supposed to 
include a high chapeau, we suppose the head-covering for the fair rider 
in Manilla will not be considered out of fashion. They say that fashions 
change very little in Manilla from year to year, and milliners do not 
make fortunes. The Spanish ladies make some attempt to keep in style, 
but. with all their efforts, they do not succeed very well. There is little 
chance for variety in a country where it is so hot that only the lightest 
garments can be worn with comfort. 

" These Metis are in the same social position as the mulattoes of 
the United States — they will not associate with persons whose skins are 
darker than their own ; and, on the other hand, the whites altogether de- 
spise and look down upon them. But they are the richest and most 
enterprising of the population, and it is said that a Chinese Meti can 
generally beat a genuine Chinese at a trade, no matter whether he is 
buying or selling. One of the wealthiest native merchants is the son of 



52 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



a Chinese trader who married a Tagal wife, and he has made his entire 
fortune by his own industry and shrewdness. 

" There is this difference between the Spaniards in the Philippines 
and the Dutch in Java : that the former have instructed the natives in 
their religion, while the latter have not tried to give the Javanese any 
religious instruction whatever. All through the Philippines the natives 
have been converted to the Catholic Church, and in many districts the 
only white inhabitants are the priests. They instruct the natives not 
only in religion, but in agriculture and manufactures ; but it often hap- 




SPANISH METIS OF THE WEALTHY CLASS. 



pens that, as they have no practical knowledge of the arts they are teach- 
ing, their instruction does not amount to much. 

" When we reached the promenade, we got out of the carriage for a 
stroll. Everybody seemed to be there, as it is the fashion to go to the 
promenade whenever the band plays, and it happened to be one of the 
musical evenings. All the Spanish officials were in uniform, and the 
gentlemen who did not happen to hold office wore their black coats. 
Most of the other foreigners followed their example, though there were 
some that did not. The fashion promises to die out ; but it will be some 
time before it does, as the Spanish are very conservative. 



EVENING PKAYER AT THE PROMENADE. 



53 



" The ladies were out in goodly numbers, and Doctor Bronson said 
many of them were quite pretty. Most of them wore veils after the 
Spanish fashion, and they talked and laughed with the gentlemen, just 
as they might do in Madrid or any other Spanish city. The ladies in 
Manilla do not appear to spend as 
much time in-doors as the Dutch 
ladies do in Java, for they go a 
good deal among the shops, and 
like to turn over silks and other 
things by the hour without buying 
anything. They give the Chinese 
salesmen ever so much trouble, but the latter 
have to smile, and pretend to like it, exactly as 
the salesmen in a New York store have to do 
when the American ladies go on shopping excur- 
sions. In every house where they can afford it, 
they have a small army of servants to look after 
them ; and as the place is in charge of a major- 
domo, or house -keeper, there is not much for a 
lady to look after. Mr. Segovia says the most of 
the ladies who come to Manilla prefer to remain 
there rather than go back to Spain, and the rea- 
son probably is that they find life much easier. 
It is the same with the men, as not more than 
one out of ten ever goes home to Spain for more 
than a short visit ; though it is proper to say 
many of them would be glad to go back, only 
they never have the means of doing so. 

" While we were at the promenade, the bells 
suddenly rung the hour for evening prayers. 
Everybody stopped on the instant ; not only 
those on foot, but those on horseback and in 
carriages. It was like one of the fairy scenes 
we read about, where the goddess waves her 
wand, and everybody becomes petrified till she 
waves it again, and restores them to life. The 
gentlemen raised their hats, and the ladies bow- 
ed their heads, and for a few moments the time was devoted to uni- 
versal prayer. Then the bells stopped, and the movement of horses, 
carriages, and pedestrians was resumed ; the conversation became as 





PALM - TKEE IN THE BOTAN- 
ICAL GARDEN. 



54 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

lively as ever, and we had to ruO our eyes to make sure we had not 
been dreaming. 

" There is a botanical garden near the promenade, but it is not very 
well kept ; it reminded us of the gardens at Singapore only by contrast, 
as it was overgrown with weeds, and the most of the plants had died or 
were dying. A few palm-trees remain, and some of them are quite in- 
teresting. We are told that botanical gardens in all the Spanish posses- 
sions do not appear to flourish ; and if this one is to be taken as a sam- 
ple, we can readily accept the statement. 

" It was late in the evening when we returned from our drive ; the 
people were- thinning out somewhat at the promenade, but the most of 
them did not appear in a hurry to get home. Though they go late to 
bed, they rise early in Manilla, at least those who have any business; and 
they make up for the short hours of night by sleeping in the middle of 
the day. In the best of the. houses there are bath-rooms, with bamboo 
windows in fine lattice-work, and some of the people manage to keep 
cool by bathing several times a day. The water for supplying the city 
comes from the Pasig River, several miles above Manilla, but the means 
of distributing it are very primitive." 

The second morning of their stay in Manilla our young friends were 
out in good season, and off on an excursion around the city. Their ride 
took them along the river, but further up stream than they had previ- 
ously been ; they continued it beyond the city to a little village, where 
the natives were having so jolly a time in the water that the boys pro- 
posed stopping to look at them. The Doctor consented, and so they left 
their carriage and sat down on the bank. 

Three or four girls were in the shallow water near the edge of the 
stream, and they amused themselves by splashing a Chinese boatman 
who was urging his craft among them. Evidently he did not like the 
sport, as he was threatening to strike them with his oar, of wdiich they 
did not seem to have much fear. A boy who had never in all proba- 
bility seen a circus was balancing himself on the back of a wide-horned 
ox, and urging the beast to join the bathing-party ; the ox was not at 
all disinclined to the bath, and the Doctor told the boys that the oxen, 
or buffaloes, of the Philippines cannot exist without frequent bathing. 
They like to lie all day in the water, and, if it is not attainable, they will 
readily accept mud as a substitute. Consequently, they are not particu-. 
larly clean in their general appearance, as they are veneered with mud 
for the greater part of the time, and the more mud they can accumulate 
the better they are satisfied. 



SCENES IN THE SUBURBS. 



55 



The Doctor called the attention of the boys to the wide horns of the 
buffalo, and said they were often six feet in length, while specimens had 
been known that measured seven feet from tip to tip. He further re- 
marked that the animal knows how to use them, as any hunter in the 
interior of the islands can testify ; and some are unable to give their per- 




LIFE IN THE WATER. 



sonal evidence, for the reason that they have been killed by them. The 
buffalo is a dangerous beast to encounter when he is enraged; he will 
shun the white man as long as he can, but, when pressed and pursued, he 
turns and shows fight. "We shall hear more of him by -and -by," the 



56 



THE BOY TEAVELLEKS IN THE FAR EAST. 



Doctor remarked, " and what you hear will be likely to increase your 
respect for him." 

On their way back to the hotel, Doctor Bronson pointed to a series 
of large buildings, which he said were the Government tobacco-factories. 
" Every smoker," said he, " is familiar with Manilla cigars — at least all 
through the ports of Asia — and this is where they are made. Many peo- 
ple prefer them to Havana cigars, and you will often see a gentleman 



J^ 







^^M 



,( IUlflfcfe 




HORNS OF THE BUFFALO. 



decline a Havana and accept a Manilla. The best of the Manilla cigars 
rarely get to the United States ; and when they do, the price is so high 
that they cannot compete with cigars from other countries. Besides, 
they seem to lose their flavor in the long voyage over the sea, and per- 
haps this is the reason why Havana cigars seem to be lacking in the 
proper taste when brought to Japan or China. 

"The tobacco-crop of the Philippines pays a tribute of a million dol- 
lars every year to the Spanish Government, which is the principal reve- 
nue they derive from their possessions in the East. It gives employ- 
ment, in the factories that you see, to more than 20,000 men and women, 
besides a great number in the cities of Spain, where the raw tobacco is 
also worked up. The cigars are of three qualities — firsts, seconds, and 
thirds ; and the prices are graded accordingly. Every box contains a cer- 
tificate as to the character of the cigars inside, and there is a label on the 
outside to show the date when the cigars were put up. The clever Chi- 
nese in Hong-Kong are in the habit of counterfeiting not only the cigars, 



TRICKS WITH CIGARS. 



57 



but the certificate and date label : some of them were prosecuted for the 
fraud a few years ago, and they have latterly been somewhat cautious. 
They have also a trick of selling first- quality cigars without the box, 
which they then fill with seconds, so as to pass them off as firsts. A 
novice will not discover the cheat till he has bought and carried away 
his cigars, and then it is usually too late to make a change. The old 
residents of Hong-Kong are not to be caught by the trick, and carefully 
examine a box before purchasing." 




NATIVE HOUSE IN THE SUBURBS OF MANIIAA. 



58 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



CHAPTER V. 

AN EXCURSION TO THE INTERIOR.— BUFFALOES AND AGRICULTURE. 

IN the afternoon Mr. Segovia called at the hotel to make a suggestion 
for an excursion into the interior. He explained that he was not at 
all pressed with business at that season of the year, and could spare a 
few days for a trip inland : he offered to make all the needed arrange- 
ments, and proposed that they should start on the following morning. 
"The island of Luzon," said he, "on which Manilla stands, is the 




A GROUP OF NATIVES OF MANILLA. 



largest of the group ; its length is 520 miles, and its greatest breadth 
about 140. The estimate of its area is 40,000 square miles, and the next 
largest island, Mindanao, contains 33,000 square miles; the remainder 
of the group are much smaller, and of less consequence. It would take 



STARTING FOR THE INTERIOR. 59 

you several months to visit all of the islands, and you would find them 
so much alike as hardly to pay for the expense and fatigue. But you can 
make a small tour of Luzon, and see the principal features of the Philip- 
pines ; and if everything is satisfactory, we will set out to-morrow." 

The proposition was at once accepted, and the gentleman departed 
to make the necessary arrangements. " You need get nothing," he said, 
" beyond what you wish to wear, and may take your roughest clothes 
for that purpose ; I will see to all the provisions and everything else we 
want, and will come with a carriage to take you to the boat that will be 
ready for you." 

As soon as he had gone, Frank suggested a visit to a book-store he 
had seen not far from the hotel, in the hope that they might find some 
books about the islands to carry with them on their journey. Fred agreed 
to the proposal, and away they went. They soon returned with two 
books in the English language and one in French, and they passed the 
evening in the study of these works, in which they found much that was 
interesting. 

The volumes in English were " Travels in the Philippines," by F. 
Jagor, and " Twenty Years in the Philippine Islands," by Paul de la 
Gironiere. The latter book was originally published in French, and was 
written by Alexander Dumas, from the notes of Gironiere, who had led 
the life of an adventurer and planter in the Philippines. It contains a 
good deal of truth mixed up with a variety of interesting incidents from 
the imagination of the famous French novelist. The work of Jagor is 
more recent than the other, and also more authentic. 

Their kind entertainer was true to his promise, and came with the 
carriage at an early hour ; but he was not too early for the Doctor and 
his young charges, and it did not require many minutes for them to be 
ready to start on their expedition. "We want to get off as quickly as 
possible," said Mr. Segovia, "in order to make a good distance before the 
heat of the mid-day sun compels us to halt. You have been long enough 
in the tropics to know that the middle of the day should be devoted to 
rest." 

The boat was waiting for them at a landing-place just above the 
bridge ; it was of native construction, and had a rude appearance ; but as 
soon as our friends entered it they found it very comfortable. It re- 
minded them of a Chinese house-boat, and their guide said it was built 
after the Chinese model, with slight changes to suit the wants of the 
Philippines. There was a space on the forward deck, where they could 
sit under an awning or roof of bamboo and pandanus leaves ; it was not 



60 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

sufficiently high to enable them to stand beneath it, but this was no great 
inconvenience, as there were plenty of little loop-holes where they could 
look out and study the scenery. 

The baggage was stowed in a sort of hold beneath the cabin, or in a 
space at the stern ; in the latter instance, it was under the eyes of Mr. 
Segovia's two servants, who sat there, and occasionally gave some needed 
assistance to the crew. The latter consisted of six men and a padrone, or 
captain ; the captain was a Chinese Meti, while his crew were Tagals, or 
natives of the islands. They were obedient, but not very energetic, and 
it was very soon apparent that the voyage would not be a rapid one. 

The route of the excursion was up the Pasig to a large lake known as 




VIEW ON THE RIVER PASIG. 



the Lake of Bay. The Pasig forms a natural canal, about twenty miles 
long, between the lake and the sea, and there are no falls in any part of 
the way to obstruct navigation. There are numerous villages and farm- 
houses on the banks of the river, and the boatmen made all sorts of pre- 
tences for stopping, in order to make the journey as long as possible. 
They had been hired by the day, and were anxious not to get through a 
good contract in a hurry. 

Mr. Segovia finally made the padrone understand very plainly that 
he would be held responsible for all delays, and if the men did not do 
their duty there would be a deduction from the amount to be paid. This 
had the desired effect, and after that they behaved better. " Stop as long 



FISHING IN THE LAKE OF BAY. 61 

as you like at the villages," said the gentleman, "and I will keep a record 
of your delays, and make your pay accordingly." Nothing could be more 
reasonable than this, and the men were not long in seeing it. 

"With rowing and sailing it took nearly all day, with a rest of two 
hours at noon, to reach the Lake of Bay. They halted for the night at* 
a little village close by where the river begins, and while the sun was yet 
in the sky our friends took a stroll by the shore of the lake. It seemed 
to them a very large lake, and the boys were not at all surprised to learn 
that the circumference of this sheet of water was more than a hundred 
miles, and that it washed the shores of three fertile provinces — Manilla, 
Laguna, and Cavite. It abounded in fish, and their attention was called 
to a fishing- raft, with a curious system of bamboo poles, by which the net 
was managed. Doctor Bronson explained to the boys that everything 
about the concern was of bamboo, with the exception of the fibre of the 
net ; aud even that, he said, might possibly be of bamboo, as this article 
can be used for coarse netting, though it is too brittle for fine work. 

Their guide informed them that all the waters of Luzon were abun- 
dantly supplied with fish, so that this article of food was very cheap. He 
said a man could live on five cents a day, and have all he wanted to eat ; 
this w T as the price for the interior provinces — three cents for rice and two 
for fish and cabbage—but he admitted that in Manilla food was dearer. 
There a man can hardly subsist on five cents a day, though he can get 
along very well on ten. Most of the fishes are coarse and of a muddy 
flavor, and there are not many varieties eaten by foreigners. 

They were lodged in the house of a gentleman who was acquainted 
with Mr. Segovia, and was glad to have the opportunity of entertaining 
strangers. ""We are away from civilization," said he, "and are delighted 
to welcome any one who can give us news of the outer world, and relieve 
the monotony of our life. Hardly a dozen persons come here in a year, 
and therefore you may be sure that all who do are heartily welcome." 

They were bountifully fed at the table of their host; and as he was 
anxious to talk on almost every conceivable topic, it was very late before 
they went to bed. The next morning the journey was resumed to the es- 
tate of Jala-jala ; it was formerly owned by the author of " Twenty Years 
in the Philippine Islands," and was rather extravagantly described in his 
book. The shore along the lake is flat, and serves as an excellent pasture 
for the cattle belonging to the establishment, and back of the shore there 
is a wide area of slightly elevated country, covered with rice and sugar 
fields. Beyond these fields is a hilly region backed by a mountain that 
is thickly wooded to its summit, and abounds in game birds and animals 



62 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 




JALA-JALA PLANTATION. 63 

of several kinds. Three sides of the estate are surrounded by water, as 
it stands on a broad peninsula ; there is another peninsula of nearly the 
same extent farther up the lake, which is likewise the home of a wealthy 
planter. 

The owner of Jala-jala was absent ; but the manager invited the 
strangers to remain as long as they chose, since such was the custom of 
the country to all visitors who came properly introduced. He offered 
them horses to ride in any excursions they wished to make over the 
property, and told them, in true Spanish style, "The house and all 
it contains are yours." Mr. Segovia was well known at the place, and 
his presentation of Doctor Bronson and the youths was all that could be 
desired to make them entirely welcome. 








A BAMBOO FISHING-RAFT. 



The invitation was accepted by advice of their introducer, and their 
slender baggage was taken to the spacious house, where rooms were as- 
signed to them. Their morning journey had given them good appetites, 
and they were quite ready for the substantial breakfast of curry, broiled 
chicken, and various kinds of fruits to which they were soon called. 
Then they rested awhile on the veranda, and strolled through the gar- 
dens, which were finely laid out, though somewhat neglected in cultiva- 
tion. Early in the afternoon they were invited to a horseback-ride, and 



64 



THE BOY TEAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



as soon as the animals were ready they started, A couple of Spanish 
Metis accompanied them, partly to show the way, and partly to vouch 
for them to any of the herdsmen they might encounter. 

" You must know," said Mr. Segovia, " that this estate has more than 
a thousand buffaloes, two thousand bullocks, and six or eight hundred 
horses. The horses are about half wild, and the bullocks more so, while 




A STAMPEDE OF BUFFALOES. 



the buffaloes are the worst of all. It is dangerous to go about here on 
foot, as the cattle are excited at seeing a white man walking, though they 
pay little attention to a native. The herds are watched by herdsmen, 
to prevent their straying off the pasture-grounds, and also to guard them 
against thieves, who are sufficiently numerous to cause considerable loss 
if not closely watched. Sometimes the herds become alarmed from 
various causes, and then a frightful stampede occurs, in which they run 
for miles. On this very estate I once narrowly escaped ' being trampled 
to death in a stampede of a herd of buffaloes ; they had taken fright at 
the rumbling of the ground during an earthquake, and in their headlong 
flight they nearly ran down my horse and myself. I just managed to 
get out of the way ; if my horse had stumbled and thrown me, my death 
would have been certain. 

" They are dangerous animals to encounter in hunting," he continued, 
"as they will face a man who attacks them, and attempt to pierce him 
with their terrible horns. Perhaps you would like to hear of my first 
buffalo-hunt in Luzon." 



HUNTING THE BUFFALO IN LUZON. 65 

The boys answered that it would give them great pleasure to listen 
to the story, as it would certainly be very interesting. 

"Then I will tell you about it," was the reply. "It was in the moun- 
tains, some distance in the interior, where the country is very thinly set- 
tled, and the animals are entirely wild. The mode of hunting is to sta- 
tion yourself on the edge of a wood which is known to contain buffaloes ; 
you must have a gun on which you can depend, and, above all, you must 
have full possession of your nerves. When all is ready, you send two or 
three Indians with dogs into the woods, to beat up the game and rouse 
him to the proper condition of anger. This is what I did, and I stood 
for at least half an hour without hearing a sound. 

" The Indians remove nearly all their clothing, so that they can climb 
trees and get out of the way of the infuriated buffalo whenever he 
charges at them, and only the most active of the young Indians are se- 
lected for this work. By-and-by I heard the barking of the dogs; it 
kept coming nearer and nearer, and in a little while one of the Indians 
showed himself at the edge of the forest and sprung into the limbs of 
the nearest tree. I brought my rifle to my shoulder, and stood ready to 
receive the assailant. As he came out of the forest, he stopped a mo- 
ment, as if bewildered at not seeing the Indian ; when he looked around 
his eyes rested on me, and then he came onward, crashing through the 
small bushes, and trampling down everything that stood in his way. 

" He made straight for me, as if intending to run me down, and did 
not pause till he was not ten paces away. Then he halted for a few sec- 
onds, and lowered his head to rush upon me with his horns. 

" This is the critical moment when the hunter should deliver his fire, 
and he must aim directly at the centre of the animal's forehead. If the 
gun misses fire, or he fails of his aim, he is lost. 

" I fired just at the right time, and the bullet went straight to its mark. 
The buffalo made his plunge as he had intended, but instead of piercing 
me with his horns, he fell dead at my feet. The Indians then came up 
and praised my coolness, and predicted that I would become a famous 
hunter. I have shot a good many buffaloes since then, but it is fair to 
say I always have some one near me to deliver a shot in case my rifle 
should fail, and I stand close to a tree, and am prepared to jump behind 
it if possible. This is a precaution that every one should take, as you 
can never be certain that your gun will not miss fire, or your shot may 
fail to pierce the thick skull of the buffalo." 

Frank asked how much the buffalo of the Philippines was like that of 
the United States. 

5 



66 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



"He is included in the same genus," was the reply, "but the species 
is quite distinct. The American animal is misnamed when he is called 
buffalo ; he is properly the bison, and his scientific name is Bos Ameri- 




canus, while the Luzon buffalo is described as the Bos Arna. The buffalo 
of the Philippines is an animal of more docility than the ox when prop- 
erly domesticated, and is capable of rendering more services to man than 



USES OF THE LUZON BUFFALO. 67 

his patient brother. But he must be tamed when very young — less than 
a year old ; if suffered to reach two or three years without restraint, he 
is sure to be vicious, and is of no use except to be converted into beef. 
He is stronger than the ox, and will live on coarser food ; he eats the 
bushes and vines that the ox refuses, and he is fond of aquatic plants, as 
well as those that grow on the slopes of the hills. When the heat is 
great, he takes to the water, and will spend the whole day there, brows- 
ing on the lilies and other things that grow in it. He stirs up the roots 
with his feet and devours them, and he will even hold his head under 
water to reach what is growing on the bottom. 

" It would be difficult to name all the services he performs for the 
natives. If you look at Gironiere's book, you will find it stated that the 
Indian associates the buffalo with nearly everything he does, and from 
my observation I fully believe it. With the buffalo he ploughs, and on 
his back he rides or transports articles across mountains, by paths where 




A NATIVE PLOUGH IN LUZON. 



even a mule would be unable to go. The Indian also uses the buffalo 
for crossing rivers and small lakes ; he sits or stands on the broad back 
of the animal, which patiently enters the water, and often drags behind 
him a small cart that floats on the surface. As you go farther into the 
country you will see more of the buffalo, and learn how to appreciate 
him." 

At this point of the conversation the party arrived at the edge of 
a field where some twenty or more natives were at work, under the 
charge of a half-caste overseer. Some were ploughing with buffaloes or 
oxen, and others were driving the same animals in harrows. The boys 
stopped to examine the implements used by the natives, and found they 
were of a character that would be called exceedingly primitive in Amer- 
ica. The plough consisted of only four pieces of wood and two of iron, 
and the workmanship was such that almost any man could produce with 



68 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 




A BUFFALO YOKE. 



a few rough tools. Their guide told them that the wood came from the 
forests of Luzon, and cost only a few cents, and the pieces of iron for 
mould-board and share were sold in Manilla for half a dollar the set. 

The next thing considered was the yoke for the buffalo ; and while 
Frank sketched the plough, Fred made a draw- 
ing of the yoke, which was a single piece of 
wood made to fit the animal's neck, and bring the 
draught to the middle of the shoulder. It was 
held in place by a short rope passing under the 
neck, and the traces were fastened to the ends 
of the wood. " A plough, yoke, and traces, for 
a single buffalo, ought not to cost more than a 
dollar," Fred remarked; and the Doctor quite agreed with him. The 
further observation was made that when two or more buffaloes were 
used, they were harnessed " tandem," and not side by side as with oxen 
in most parts of the world. 

A stronger and heavier plough was shown to our friends, and Mr. 
Segovia explained that it was intended for oxen instead of buffaloes, 
and was used for stirring the ground where the lighter plough was in- 
sufficient. Frank observed that the yoke was not supplied with bows, 
after the American plan, but had a couple of upright pins at each end 
to enclose the neck of the ox. When the team is to be made up, the 
yoke is held over the necks of the animals, and dropped into place ; 
and if they are at all restive, the space at the lower ends of the pins is 




•r.ib. 



NATIVE WOODEN PLOUGH AND YOKE FOR OXEN. 



closed by means of a cord. A rope, instead of a chain, forms the con- 
nection between the yoke and the beam of the plough. The latter has 
only one handle, on the theory that the ploughman needs the use of one 



AGRICULTUEE IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 



69 



of his hands for guiding his team, and consequently a double hold on 
the plough is impossible. 

From the ploughing-ground they passed a little farther on to where 
a stretch of muddy ground was being harrowed, so as to make it ready 
for planting rice. Two or three inches of water covered the ground, and 
the object of the harrowing was to convert the water and earth into a 
bed of liquid mud. For this purpose a novel kind of implement was 
used ; it was called a comb harrow, and had a single row of iron teeth 
fixed in a wooden frame. The traces of the buffalo were fastened so 
that they had a tendency to draw the teeth forward, and the machine 
was steadied by a handle or cross-bar parallel to the beam in which the 
teeth were placed. It was a simple and very effective instrument, and 
Frank thought it might be used to advantage on certain parts of his 
father's farm in America. 

The soil of the Philippine Islands is, in general, so rich that it yields 
very bountifully; and, as it is in the tropics, there is no season of frost 
and snow, when cultivation must 
cease. Agriculture goes on through 
the entire year, and on some parts 
of the soil three and occasionally 
four crops can be raised. The year 
is divided into the wet season and 
the dry ; in the former, the rain 
falls in torrents, and fills the rivers 
and lakes, together with artificial 

reservoirs, where water is stored for irrigating the fields in the time of 
drought. Crops are made to follow each other so that the soil may not 
be exhausted by repetitions ; thus, in the mountain districts, it is custo- 
mary to plant the ground with rice, and, as soon as it is gathered, it is 
followed by a planting of tobacco. 

Formerly the island of Luzon produced large quantities of pepper 
for exportation, but at present there is hardly enough grown there to 
supply the local demand. Fred asked the reason of this, and was told 
the following story : 

" The price of pepper was fixed by a measure called a ganta, which 
was used by both sellers and buyers. The Philippine Company had the 
monopoly of the pepper-trade, and were making a fine profit out of it, 
but it seems they were not satisfied to let well enough alone. One year, 
when the pepper-growers came to Manilla to sell their product for the 
season, they found that the agents of the Company had altered the meas- 




THE COMB HARROW. 



70 



THE BOY TEAVELLEES IN THE FAE EAST. 



ure by making the ganta of the Company double the ganta of the In- 
dians, so that the sellers were enormously cheated. The Indians were 
angry at this trick, and immediately went home, destroyed their pepper 
plantations, and devoted their attention to other articles of culture." 

" Served the Company right," said the boys, " provided the poor In- 
dians were able to get along with something else." 

" As to that," was the reply, " they were not likely to suffer, as they 
could raise tobacco, rice, sugar, and two or three other things, on the same 
ground ; but it is proper to say that there are few articles that can be 
cultivated as easily as pepper. Pepper requires very little care ; all that 
is needed is to take a little twig of it, bend the two ends together, cover 
the middle with a little earth, and tie the ends to a prop of wood six or 
eight feet long. The plant grows and clings to the prop till it reaches 
its top, and there it stays and takes care of itself. The owner has only 
to remove the weeds once in a while, and to stir up the earth around the 
foot of the plant so that it can absorb plenty of moisture. The grains 
are gathered as fast as they change from green to black, and are then 
spread out in the sun and dried." 




TAGAL INDIANS CLEANING RICE. 



INCIDENTS OF THE EXCUKSION. 71 



CHAPTER VI. 

HUNTING IN LUZON.— CROCODILES AND GREAT SNAKES. 

FROM the fields where they saw the natives at work, our friends pro- 
ceeded on their ride. Sometimes they were in the open country, 
and then in the forest ; and as they rode along, their guide called their at- 
tention to many things of interest. The forest was rich and luxuriant, 
and sometimes the vines and creepers were so numerous that it was diffi- 
cult to proceed. There were pitcher-plants hanging from the trees, and 
two or three times the excursionists drank from them to slake their thirst. 
A wild boar was roused from his lair, but, as the party was unprovided 
with hunting weapons, he was not pursued, and the same was the case 
with a deer that came bounding across their path. In one part of the 
forest several wild ^monkeys chattered from the tops of the trees, and 
made grimaces at the intruders; but they were not otherwise disturbed 
than by the presence of the strangers. 

They came at length to the shore of the lake, and dismounted. The 
boys suggested that a bath in the tepid water would be agreeable; but 
their guide shook his head very impressively, and remarked that their 
lives would not be worth much after they took their first plunge. 
" Why so ?" inquired one of the boys. 

"Because," was the reply, " the lake swarms with crocodiles, and you 
would be in the jaws of one of them before you could swim a dozen 
yards." 

As he spoke, he pointed to a dark object on the surface of the water 
a hundred yards or so from shore. At first glance it appeared like a log 
of wood, and so the strangers would have considered it but for the spe- 
cial direction they had received. 

The boys regarded it a few moments with great attention, and then 
Fred cried out, 

" I believe it's the head of a crocodile !" 

"And I, too," said Frank. "Perhaps he'd like to have us take a bath 
here ; but w r e won't do anything of the kind." 



72 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



"It is quite unsafe to bathe here," said Mr. Segovia, "and after what 
you have seen you are not likely to venture; but we will mount our 
horses, and ride a few miles back from the lake to where there is a pretty 
cascade with a fine pool below it; there you may have a bath without the 
least danger." 

They suited the action to the word, 
and were off on the instant. A smart 
ride of half an hour brought them to the 
cascade, which is on the estate of Jala-jala, 
and the boys were soon having a gay time 
'in the pure water that came rolling over 
the rocks. The Doctor sat down on the 
bank and made a sketch of the scene, and 
the native guides climbed to a niche half- 
way up the rocky 
side of the cascade 
by means of a long 
liana, or hanging 
plant, that abounds 
in the forests of 
the Eastern isl- 
ands. After half 
an hour at the cas- 
cade the party re- 
turned to their 
horses, which were 
waiting a short dis- 
tance away, and as 
the afternoon was 
well advanced, it 
was determined to 
make all haste to 
the house, where 
dinner would be 
awaiting them, in accordance with the promise of their host. 

On the way back, Mr. Segovia had a short conference with Doctor 
Bronson while the boys were riding ahead. It was evidently concerning 
Frank and Fred, as the Doctor assured his friend that the youths were 
both of excellent disposition, and could be relied upon in an emergency. 
"If you take them along," said he, "you will find they will be perfectly 




CASCADE NEAR JALA-JALA. 



RICE-FIELDS IN LUZON. 



T3 



cool and self-possessed, and will not make the least interference with any 
of your plans. 7 ' 

" In that case," the gentleman responded, " it is all right, and we will 
make the excursion to-morrow." 

Frank and Fred overheard the latter part of the conversation, but 
they were too well bred to ask any questions. They were satisfied to let 
events develop themselves, and meantime they devoted their attention to 
the practical matters that surrounded them. 

"What an interesting ride we've had!" said Fred, as they passed 
near a rice -field where the young plants were just pushing above the 
ground. "I might get tired of looking at these rice-fields after a while, 
but don't see any signs of it yet." 

"What I would like to see," Frank responded, "is a string of fields 
with all the different kinds of rice growing side by side. How many do 
you suppose there are ?" 

" I can't tell, I'm sure." 

" One of the books we bought says there are more than thirty kinds of 



«®lfL jg|i 




■>&'■ 




THE HOUSE AT JALA-JALA 






rice grown in the Philippine Islands, all quite distinct in color, form, and 
weight of the grain. They are divided into two classes — mountain rice 
and aquatic rice; but the mountain variety can be treated just like the 
aquatic rice, and it will grow." 

5* 



74 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



" Mountain rice," Fred continued, "grows on the higher ground, where 
it is not liable to inundations from the rivers, but the aquatic rice needs a. 
great deal of water, and the fields must be very moist all the time it is 
growing, or till it gets near ripening. It is like the rice raised in the 

United States, and in .Japan 
and China ; and the rice- 
swamps of Luzon are prob- 
ably just as unhealthy as 
those of the Southern States 
of America, that we used to 
hear so much about." 

"Do all the kinds of 
rice yield the same ?" Frank 
asked. 

" Some of them are bet- 
ter than others," Fred an- 
swered ; " at least the book 
says so. Some kinds return 
thirty, some forty, and some 
eighty fold — that is, from 
a bushel of seed they get 
thirty, forty, or eighty bush- 
els. The best rice general- 
ly does not yield so well as 
the poorer varieties, so that 
what they make up in one 
way they lose in another by the end of the year." 

" When the rice is harvested it is put up in high stacks, with a roof 
of pandanus-leaves on top to keep out the wet. That must be a rice 
stack over there," said Fred, as he pointed to a circular enclosure a 
little distance away. " Yes, and there are several stacks with a fence 
around them, and a clump of bamboo - trees in the centre. I suppose 
they put the rice there to dry, and when it is ready it will be thrashed 
out." 

They passed the enclosure, and a little farther on there was a group 
of Indians engaged in pounding rice to separate the grain from the husk. 
The apparatus was exceedingly primitive, being simply a mortar with a 
heavy pestle, which was raised in the air and then brought down with 
all the power of the person who was wielding it. Just then the Doctor 
and Mr. Segovia rode up, and the latter explained that, while mills for 




STACKING RICE IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 



THE PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS. 75 

cleaning rice were in use all over the islands wherever rice was grown, 
many of the natives preferred the old process, and were contented with 
the mortar and pestle. "In the back regions," said he, "where mills are 
scarce, they thrash the rice from the stalk by treading it out with buffa- 
loes, and remove the hulls as you see them now." 

Frank asked if there was any variation in the rice-crop from year to 
year, so as to make its cultivation a matter of uncertainty. 

"There is not much variation," said the gentleman, "but we can 
never be certain of a crop till it is gathered. A short supply of water 
may dry up the fields, and too much rain may inundate them and wash 
the plants out, but this is not often. The greatest uncertainty is with 
the locusts, as they come suddenly, and sometimes destroy an entire crop 
in a day or two." 

" How often do you have the locusts ?" one of the boys asked. 

"About once in seven years," was the reply. "They come from the 
islands farther south, and you can hardly realize the desolation they make 
till you have seen it. A reddish-colored cloud is seen on the horizon ; 
it comes nearer and nearer, and is frequently ten or twelve miles from 
one side to the other, and occupies five or six hours in passing over. This 
cloud is formed of millions and millions of locusts, and sometimes it is 
so dense that the sun is darkened the same as when a thunder-shower 
rises. If the locusts perceive a green field they fall upon it, and in an 
hour every vestige of verdure has disappeared ; then they rise and move 
on to join their companions in the air, and the different parts of the 
column seem to take turns in feeding. 
When enough have come down to cover 
a field, the rest move on, and those who 
have satisfied their appetites take their 
places in the rear. In the evening they 
halt in a forest and rest on the limbs of 
the trees, and frequently so many of them 
cover a limb that it breaks off and falls 
to the ground. When they leave in the 
morning, the forest looks as though ev- THE Philippine locust. 

ery tree had been struck and shattered 

by lightning; the leaves are all gone, the limbs are broken, and the 
ground is strewn with the scattered fragments. At certain periods they 
remain on broad plains, or the sides of fertile mountains, and lay their 
eggs. Three weeks later the eggs are hatched, and the voung locusts 
appear; they live upon whatever green food they can find till their 




76 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

wings are formed, and then they fly away to do their work of devasta- 
tion." 

Dinner was ready on their arrival at the house, and the party sat 
down to it with excellent appetites — the result of their ride over the 
estate. All went to bed early, as the hint was given that the next day 
w T ould be a fatiguing one. But the character of the sport to be provided 
was not given. 

They breakfasted early, and immediately started in a boat that was 
ready at the little pier in front of the house. Two boats had already 
gone ahead of them, and while the boys were wondering what was to be 
done, the Doctor called their attention to something below the surface 
of the water. The boys looked, and speedily discovered that the strange 
object was a huge crocodile. 

"There's no fear of him," said Mr. Segovia, "as he happens to be 
dead." 

" How was he killed ?" Frank asked. 

" I can't say positively," their guide replied, " but he has probably 
been shot at by somebody, and died in consequence." 

" The crocodile is very difficult to kill, as his scaly hide will turn a 
bullet, except in a few places. The most vulnerable point is behind the 
foreleg, where the skin is comparatively thin ; and if you can creep up 
to within fifty yards of a sleeping crocodile, and lodge a ball in that spot, 
he is done for. If you make use of explosive balls, so much the bet- 
ter, as you then tear a great hole in him, and disturb his organs of 
digestion and respiration. Nineteen -twentieths of the crocodiles that 
are shot at escape apparently unharmed, but we have the satisfaction 
of knowing that many of them afterward die from the effect of their 
wounds." 

" How is that ?" 

" If a crocodile has ever so small a scratch in his skin, it is his death- 
warrant. He lies down to sleep in the mud, the shrimps find the scratch 
and begin eating at it, and in a little while they enlarge it to a huge 
wound. They continue to eat away at it, are joined by other occupants 
of the water, and in the course of a week or two the crocodile is literally 
devoured. He has nothing to do but die, and so he climbs to a sand-bank 
or sinks to the bottom of the lake, and ceases to be a terror to the in- 
habitants of the shore. 

" I was one day down by the shore of the lake," the gentleman con- 
tinued, "where a little stream flows in from the forest. One of the fe- 
male servants of the house was sitting near the bank, when a hu<?'e cro( .. 



ADVENTURE WITH A CROCODILE. 



77 




odile rose suddenly from the water and seized her. A herdsman was on 
the opposite bank of the stream with his rifle ; he fired, but apparently 
to no purpose, as the crocodile disappeared into the water, and carried 
the unfortunate woman with him. A month later his body was found 
on a sand-bank several miles away, and an examination showed that the 
shrimps had made an entrance through the scratch caused by the bullet, 
and as soon as this was done the death of the crocodile was only a ques- 



78 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



tion of time. The identity of the murderer was established by the ear- 
rings of the woman in his stomach. 

"I once had a light of three or four hours with a crocodile that had 
entered a narrow lagoon connecting with the lake, and seized a horseman 
who was crossing. We made a strong net of ropes, and stretched it across 
the entrance of the lagoon to prevent his escape into the lake ; then we 
lashed two canoes side by side, and with long poles stirred the bottom 
till he rose to the surface. As he opened his mouth to attack us, we sent 
a couple of explosive balls down his throat with as many Remington 




A HUGE CAPTIVE. 



rifles, and another was lodged in his skin under the foreleg, when he 
turned about to dive. He went down and tried to break through the 
net, but it was too strong for him, and then it took an hour or more to 
urge him to show himself again. We fired nearly a dozen balls into 
him, and at last he caught his head in the net when he was about expir- 
ing; we drew him to the shore, and found, on taking his measurement, 
that he was twenty-seven feet long, and had a girth of eleven feet around 
the body just behind the forelegs. 

" So much for the crocodile, but we are not going to hunt him to-day; 
we are in pursuit of game that lives on land, and is not amphibious. If 



AN EXCITING INCIDENT. 79 

fortune favors us we will capture a wild boar, and perhaps we may find 
something else before the day is over." 

Then it became clear to the boys what was meant by the boats in 
advance. They contained the dogs, guns, ammunition, provisions, and 
other things for the day's sport, together with a dozen or more men to 
act as beaters, and stir up the game. The Doctor told them they were 
bound for a point half a dozen miles up the shore, where horses had been 
sent around by land to meet them. 

In due time the hunting-party was at the appointed place, and the 
beaters set out for their share of the work, followed by the hunters. It 
was expected that a wild boar would be stirred up not more than a mile 
or two away, as this kind of game was plentiful, and had not been much 
hunted of late. In fact, one was stirred up, but in a manner quite dif- 
ferent from what had been looked for. 

While the party was on its way through the forest to the point where 
the hunt was to begin, the screams of a wild boar were heard, as though 
the animal was in great agony. Mr. Segovia was the first to hear the 
sound, and immediately he dashed off, and was followed by the rest. 
The sound appeared to come from a tall tree that could be seen rising 
above the rest ; the brushwood near it was so dense that the horses could 
not get through, and so our friends dismounted and proceeded on foot. 
The sight that met their eyes was an astonishment to the boys ! 

A great snake had caught a wild boar in his coils, and was slowly lift- 
ing him from the ground, while the victim was manifesting his terror 
in his loudest tones. The Doctor was about to fire at the snake, but at 
a sign from Mr. Segovia he stopped, and the party stood in a place of' 
concealment to see the end of the combat between, as Frank expressed 
it, " the boa and the boar." 

When he had lifted the boar clear from the ground the snake swung 
him against the tree, crushing his bones and killing him. Then he let 
his prey fall, and proceeded to unwind himself and descend preparatory 
to eating his breakfast. As he loosened his coil the signal was given for 
the Doctor to fire; and, as he had an explosive bullet in his rifle, he shat- 
tered the head of the snake completely. The serpent fell to the ground 
at once ; he lashed the trees and bushes in a frightful way, but as he 
was totally blinded by the smashing of his head, he could do no damage 
to anybody. The attendants came forward and secured some bamboo 
loops around the reptile's neck, and suspended him from the tree, where 
he continued to twist and turn till the party moved on. The natives said 
that these contortions would continue for hours, and that they rarely 



80 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



ceased till sundown, even though the head of the snake had been de- 
tached before noon. 

As they moved on to their hunting-ground, our friends discussed the 




A AVILI) BOAR ATTACKED BY A BOA-CONSTHKTOR. 

incident of the morning, and wondered if they would see anything more 
of the same sort. Mr. Segovia told the boys that the boa-constrictor was 
a very common snake in the Philippines, and sometimes grew to great 



FIGHT WITH A BOA-CONSTRICTOR. 



81 



size, though less so than in Sumatra and Borneo. " He is far less dan- 
gerous than you might suppose," said he, " as he rarely attacks man, and 
there is no poison in his bite ; in fact, he has no bite at all, and his mode 
of killing his prey is by crushing it as you have just seen. Once in 
a while a native is killed by a boa, but the occurrence is rare, and gen- 
erally owing to the carelessness of the victim rather than the superior 
cunning of the snake. He is not very active in his ordinary movements, 
but if roused he can display considerable agility, when the size of his 
body is considered. 

" I once had a fight with a boa that had taken refuge in a crevice 
among the rocks, where my dogs found him. They barked furiously, 




- .S^C-Xi, --"*"_- ' - ' " 



.Or<, 




FIGHT WITH A GREAT SNAKE. 



and the snake tried to reach them with his jaws, but they were very 
agile in their movements, and managed to elude him. I came up with 
my men, and sheltering myself behind a rock close to the crevice, took 
careful aim, reserving my fire till his head was poised for a blow. I put 
a large ball through his head, and soon afterward another through his 
body, and then his writhings were furious; he twined himself round 
the rocks and bushes within his reach, and in so doing overturned a 
large rock, that fell on one of his folds and pinned him down. In this 



82 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



position he continued to dart his head from side to side with great ra- 
pidity, and with such force that a blow from it would have been no 
small matter. In an hour or so his strength gave way ; I had sent one 
of my men for assistance in skinning the snake, and by the time the 
re-enforcements arrived the reptile was in a condition to be lashed up 
to the nearest tree. He measured nearly seventeen feet in length, and 
his skin was most beautifully marked. 

" There are several venomous serpents in the Philippines, one of the 
most dangerous being the dajon-jpalay, or rice-leaf. The only antidote 
to its bite is to burn the wound with a red-hot iron or live coal, and this 
operation must be performed very quickly, to prevent the spread of the 
poison. There is another called the alin-morani, which is as bad as the 
other, and perhaps worse, as it makes a wound that is deeper, and there- 
fore more difficult to cauterize. It grows to the length of eight or ten 
feet, and lives in the thickest part of the forest ; its habitation may some- 
times be known by observing the movements of the eagles, and the pru- 
dent hunter will keep as far away from it as possible. The eagles are 
its great enemy, and attack it fiercely; two of them generally fight to- 
gether, and in such a case the snake has very little chance of escape." 




▲ STAG-HUNT IN LUZON WITH HORSES AND DOGS. 



PREPARING FOR A BATTUE. 83 



CHAPTER VII. 

HUNTING THE DEER AND WILD BOAR.— RESULTS OF THE CHASE. 

A LITTLE while after the incident with the snake the party came to 
where the servants were waiting for them with breakfast : accord- 
ing to the custom of the East, the early meal taken at the house was a 
slight affair, so that by the middle of the forenoon one is apt to get fair- 
ly hungry. They sat down under a shady tree, and discussed the good 
things before them with a relish that came from the walk and ride 
through the open air and the excitement of the scenes of the morning. 
The boys were much amused at seeing the way the natives cooked their 
rice in a piece of bamboo, and served it up all fresh and hot. This is the 
process : 

A green bamboo is cut in the forest, and one of the hollow joints is 
separated from the rest of the stalk; the rice is put inside the bamboo, 
with a sufficient quantity of water to cook it, and then both ends are 
loosely closed. The bamboo is then laid in the fire as if to burn it ; it 
gets somewhat charred on the outside, but, before it reaches the point of 
burning through, the rice is cooked and ready to be poured out. Thus 
you can always be sure, in the region of the bamboo, of having a kettle 
for cooking your rice, although you have not brought one along. 

When breakfast was over the hunters were assigned to their various 
stands, as the hunt was to be of the kind known as a battue. The beaters 
go out and drive up the game, which is induced to run in the direction 
where the marksmen are standing to receive it ; the latter have nothing 
to do but remain quiet, and shoot at the animals as they go past them. 
There was a sufficient number of guns for the three strangers as well as 
their host, and so the boys were assigned to places by themselves, instead 
of standing with their elders. Quite naturally, they were proud of the 
honor thus shown them, and each was hoping very earnestly, though he 
did not say so aloud, to do something worthy of the occasion. 

They were instructed not to fire except in certain directions, lest they 
might endanger the lives of others, and they faithfully promised not to 



84 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 




A HOWLING MONKEY. 



violate the order ; then, when the horn was blown in a particular way, 
they were not to lire at all, as the beaters would be close upon them, 
though invisible through the underbrush, and might be hurt through 
carelessness. 

"It is an even chance," the Doctor remarked, " whether we get a deer 

or a wild boar first. The latter 
are the more numerous in this- 
forest, but the others are the 
best runners, and the more easi- 
ly disturbed. We will see." 

So saying, he went to his 
post, while the boys went to 
theirs. For half an hour or so 
there was nothing to indicate 
the possibility of game, with the 
exception of some monkeys in 
a neighboring tree, that kept up 
a perpetual chatter on account 
of the disturbance of their se- 
clusion. There were several varieties of these brutes, but they kept so 
far away that their character could not well be made out. There was one 
kind, larger than the rest, that appeared to be a champion howler, as he 
occasionally set up a most unearthly noise that could have been heard for 
a long distance. Frank had a good view of one, and said he was a sort of 
maroon color, with a red beard, and had a swelling under his neck, from 
which he brought out the music. " He seems to enjoy it," said Frank, 
"and if he can be happy by making such an outrageous- tumult, by all 
means let him have his fun." 

By -and -by the barking of the dogs was heard in the distance; it 
slowly approached, and then everybody made ready to do the best possi- 
ble work with his weapon. A crash was heard among the brushwood, 
and soon a fine deer came bounding out of the wood, and ran directly 
toward Fred's place. 

Fred brought his gun to his shoulder, and when the deer was not 
more than twenty feet away the youth fired. The aim was good, and 
the whole charge passed into the shoulder of the animal just over the 
region of the heart. With one bound he fell dead at the feet of the 
young hunter. 

A moment later came the report of Frank's gun, and with a result 
equal to that of Fred's shot. The two boys were about to give a loud 



DEER IN THE JUNGLE. 



85 




86 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



hurrah, when the Doctor motioned them to silence ; it was his turn and 
that of their host to have a chance at something. 

In less than ten minutes two other deer appeared, and were brought 
down by the guns of the elders of the party. Another deer ran past 
them, but he was too far away for a good shot, and as they now had 
plenty of venison, they allowed him to go unharmed. 

The beaters soon appeared, and then the deer-hunt was declared at an 
end. " We will now go," said Mr. Segovia, " to a place where there are 
plenty of wild boars and fewer deer. Unless you have a most excellent 
opportunity for a shot, do not trouble yourself about deer, but devote your 
attentions to the wild boars, which you will find no easy brutes to kill." 

" And perhaps," the Doctor added, " you may as well let the largest of 




POND SCENE IN LUZON. 



them go undisturbed, and only shoot the young fellows ; the old boars 
are dangerous when wounded, and we don't want to go home with holes 
torn in our skins by their tusks." 

The boys promised to obey the directions that had been given, and 
took the places assigned to them. They were not far from a little pond, 
which had a thick growth of tropical trees and plants all round it, and 
there was so little wind blowing that the water was like a mirror, and 
reflected its banks with great distinctness. Frank was so intent upon 
studying the picture that he did not pay proper attention to the hunt, 
and before he was aware of it a fair-sized pig had dashed by him, and 
disappeared in the thick underbrush. 



SHOOTING WILD BOARS. 87 

A moment later a shot was heard from the Doctor's gun, and then 
another came ringing through the woods, followed by a shout from Fred 
for assistance. Frank ran to his cousin, and found that he had wounded 
a boar, but had not killed him, and while he was reloading his gun the 
weapon became clogged, and the cartridge would neither go back nor for- 
ward. The boar was dashing wildly about, and threatening danger to the 
youth ; the latter was endeavoring to keep a tree between himself and the 
infuriated beast, and, with his disabled gun in his hand, was somewhat 
awkwardly situated. 

" Finish him ! finish him !" said Fred, "and be quick about it!" 

Frank performed the finishing touch almost as soon as Fred pro- 
nounced the words. The boar fell dead at the shot, and gave Fred the 
opportunity to devote his entire attention to putting his gun into a ser- 
viceable condition again. In a few minutes the refractory cartridge was 
removed, and then the boys surveyed their game. 

" Seems to me he's a good-sized one," said Fred ; " and see, he has a 
pair of tusks ; they are not large, but we must keep them as a trophy of 
our day's hunting in Luzon." 

" Yes," replied Frank, " but how shall we divide a pair of tusks ? We 
must shoot another like him, and then we can have a fair trophy for each 
of us." 

"We'll stay here together," Fred answered, " and when the next one 
comes we'll both shoot him, and the honors will be equal." 

Just as he spoke there was another crash in the bushes, and a boar, 
that might have been a brother of the dead one, made his appearance. 
Frank was first to fire, and Fred immediately followed with a shot. Be- 
tween them they killed the animal, and in such a way that neither could 
claim all the glory of the slaughter. As Fred had predicted, the honor 
was divided, and they were partners in possession of the game. 

Other shots soon followed from the Doctor and their host ; and then 
there was a long interval, with not a sound to break the stillness. Then 
the beaters made their appearance; the horn was blown to announce the 
end of the hunt, and the party assembled for the return homeward. Ev- 
erybody was in fine spirits, as the chase had been successful, not only for 
the party collectively, but for each individual. The attendants went to 
collect the game, and, when it was all brought together, there was a 
goodly amount of it. Four deer and seven wild hogs comprised the re- 
sult of the day's shooting, without counting the snake ; Frank thought 
the latter should be included, and remarked that snake-shooting was fairly 
entitled to be ranked as hunting, when the snake was a large one. 



88 



THE BOY TEAVELLEES IN THE FAE EAST. 




A PAVAVA. 



The transportation of the game was something to be considered. Mr. 
Segovia solved the problem by suggesting that he had sent to an Indian 
village, a mile or so away, for a pavava. This and the pack-horses would 
be sufficient ; but he had told the attendant to bring a couple of pavavas 
if he could get them. 

One of the boys very naturally inquired what a pavava was, as he 
had never heard the word before. 

"We shall meet it on our way to the boat," was the reply. "It is a 
sort of sled or cart made by the Indians, and used for purposes of trans- 
portation, and it is drawn by a single buffalo. There are a couple of 
runners which curve so that their rear ends only rest on the ground, 
while the front of the vehicle is supported by the shafts. The frame 
and body of the pavava are of bamboo, and so are the shafts ; the collar 
of the buffalo is of heavier wood, and the roof of the concern is of pan- 
danus-leaves, over a frame of light bamboo. It is so light that a man 
can easily lift it, and it will hold as heavy a load as one buffalo can draw." 

Having acquired this information, the boys next wished to know 
something about the wild boar, and especially about those they had 
killed — whether they were to be considered first, second, or third class. 
On this subject the Doctor enlightened them. 



PECULIARITIES OF THE WILD BOAR. 89' 

" The ones you have killed," said he, " are probably about two years 
old, and therefore are not first class. The boar does not attain his full 
size and strength till he is four years old ; the proper classification is 
like this: first year, pig of the saunder, or briefly 'pig;' second year, hog 
of the second, or 'hog; 1 third year, hog-steer; and fourth year, and after- 
ward, wild boar, or sanglier. You have killed a pair of ' hogs,' and very 
good ones they are. They probably weigh about two hundred pounds 
each, and when we get to Jala-jala we will put them on the Fairbanks 
scales we saw there yesterday, and see how far out I am in my guessing." 

Frank wished to know if these animals were natives of the Philippine 
Islands, or had been brought there from some other country. 

"The hog was originally unknown in a natural condition in America, 
Australia, and the Pacific islands," replied Doctor Bronson, " and his pres- 
ence there is due to the early navigators, who turned pigs loose in the 
forests, and allowed them to shift for themselves. The Spaniards did 
so in the Philippines three hundred years ago, and it is to them that we 
owe the great number in the forests of Luzon. Those you have killed 
are descended from the original importations of the Spaniards, just as 
the wild hogs in the forests of South America, and on the many islands 
of the Pacific, are descended from those left by Captain Cook and other 
explorers." 

Fred asked how large these animals became when left to themselves 
for years in the forest. 

"That depends on circumstances," the Doctor answered. "Some of 
them have been known to weigh four hundred pounds, and occasionally 
you hear of one that tips the scale at five hundred. I saw one in India 
that weighed four hundred and fifty-six pounds, and had tusks about ten 
inches long. The peculiarity of the wild boar is his powerful tusks; they 
have an awkward appearance, but he can do terrible execution with them, 
ripping up the flank of a horse as though the horn of a bull had passed 
through it, and tearing a dog or man to pieces in a few moments. As I 
told you, when we started in on the hunt, it is well to be cautious about 
attacking a full-grown boar, on account of the danger from his tusks." 

"In some of the islands of the Malay Archipelago," he continued, 
"there is a species of wild hog called the babirusa, that does not seem 
to belong to the hog family as we know it. Its legs are longer, and its 
body is more slender than in the rest of the swine species ; it does 
not root in the ground, but lives on the fruit which falls from the 
trees. The tusks of the lower jaw are very long and sharp, but the 
upper ones, instead of growing downward in the usual way, are curved 



90 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

upward and backward to near the eyes, and sometimes they attain a 
length of eight or ten inches. These tusks do not seem to be of any 
use, except to protect the eyes from the thorns of the trees and bushes 
where the animal lives. The babirusa is quite as fierce as the ordinary 
wild boar, and is more fond of the water. He will take to a pond or 
river when pursued, and is said to swim with great ease." 




SKULL OF BABIEDSA. 



" The chase of the wild boar has been a recognized sport in all ages ; 
we read of it in ancient histories as well as in modern ones, and in cer- 
tain periods of the world it was more fashionable than any other form 
of hunting. During the Middle Ages it was highly popular in England 
and on the Continent, but in our day the wild boar has disappeared from 
England entirely, and is only found in a few parts of Europe. The best 
localities for hunting him in Europe are in Greece and Italy, but if you 
want the sport in all its glory you must go to India. One of the great 
amusements of the British officers in India is "pig- sticking," as it is 
called, and those who have indulged in it say that the excitement of a 
pig-chase equals anything they have ever seen." 

The conversation was here interrupted by meeting the pavava that 
had been sent for to bring home the game from the forest. Mr. Segovia 



COMMUNICATION WITH THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. Ul 

gave some directions concerning the work in hand, and then the party 
rode rapidly to the boat that lay waiting for them. There M 7 as a light 
breeze blowing in the right direction, and so a quick passage was made 
back to Jala-jala. There was enough to talk about for the evening, and 
neither of the boys could keep his thoughts away from the fact that he 
had shot a deer and a boar on the same day, and assisted in the slaughter 
of a boa-constrictor. It was glory enough for twenty-four hours at least, 
Frank said, as he went to bed ; Fred thought it could be spread over 
three or four days without becoming too thin, and' even a month would 
not be too much. 

"A deer, a hog, and a share in a snake," murmured Fred, as he settled 
his head on his pillow. 

"A wild hog, a deer, and a share in a snake-fight," whispered Frank 
to himself, as he dropped off to sleep. "Wonder what Miss Efiie and 
Mary will say to that? I declare I haven't written home since we left 
Java; but then there hasn't been time, and besides we've had no chance 
to send letters. I must ask the Doctor in the morning when there is a 
mail for America, and how it goes." 

A moment later he was in the land of dreams. 

The question relative to the postal facilities of the Philippines waG 
duly propounded in the morning, and received the following answer : 

" There is a steamer once a fortnight each way between Manilla and 
Hong-Kong ; the distance is 650 miles, and the voyage usually occupies 
about three days. It is nearly the same distance to Singapore; in the 
busy season there is a semi-monthly steamer to Singapore, but it is not 
generally maintained through the whole year." For letters to America 
the quickest route is via Hong-Kong, whence there is a mail twice a 
month to Yokohama and San Francisco. The last mail for Hong-Kong 
left Manilla a day before your arrival, and so you have plenty of time 
to get your letters ready for the next. 

"At the time of year when the crops have been harvested, and the 
product is going forward to the European market, there are many irreg- 
ular steamers from Manilla to Singapore, and also to Hong-Kong. There 
are also sailing-ships bound for European and American ports, though 
not as many as from one of the great ports of China or Japan. We 
shall have no difficulty in getting away from the islands, as we had no 
difficulty in getting here ; though we may possibly be compelled to wait 
a few days after we are ready to start." 

At this moment a servant came to call our friends to breakfast, and 
the conversation came to an end. During breakfast it was announced 



92 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE EAR EAST. 



that an excursion would be made on the lake that day, and would start 
in half an hour. 

At the appointed time the boys were at the boat, and with the rest 
of the party. Just before they embarked, Frank saw a handsome but- 




FRANK S PRIZE — A BUTTERFLY. 



terfly on a stalk near by, and managed to capture it. The Doctor pro- 
nounced it a fine specimen, and it was immediately stowed away in the 
box kept for prizes of this sort. 

"First game for the day," said Frank. "Now, who will have the 
next ?" 

Fred made no response, but eyed the water intently, as he saw some- 
thing moving in it close to the shore. Seizing a hand-net that lay on 
the ground, he made a sudden swoop in the water, and brought up a 
prize. 

" Second game for me !" he shouted, as he deposited on the ground a 
strange-looking fish, with a mouth opening directly upward instead of 
being placed where the respectable fish is accustomed to have his mouth. 



AN ODD KIND OF FISH. 93 

Below the head there was a spongy and shapeless mass, with the ventral 
fins attached, and the whole length of the fish was covered with a gluti- 
nous substance that stuck to the grass and weeds, where he had been 
dropped. Along the back was a row of spines, that rose and fell alter- 
nately, as though they were trying to pierce something. Both the boys 
pronounced the fish the ugliest product of the water they had ever look- 
ed upon, and the Doctor said the American sculpin was a model of beauty 
compared to this monster. 

" His scientific name," said Doctor Bronson, " is Synanceia brachia, 
and he is popularly known as the mud-laff. He abounds in tropical wa- 
ters, and in most Asiatic countries he is eaten by the natives; but the 
Europeans will have nothing to do with him. He lies in the mud and 
weeds at the bottom of rivers, and is quite concealed from view. You 
observe he has sharp eyes, which peer up through the water and watch 
for his prey ; when it comes in his reach he sucks it in with a single in- 
halation, and this is why his mouth is so oddly placed. The spines on 
his back are poisonous, and if you should be pricked with them you 
would have a painful wound that might last you for weeks. Mr. Pike, 
in his ' Sub-Tropical Rambles,' tells of a man in the Mauritius who was 
stung on the sole of his foot by a mud-laff; the foot and leg swelled 
enormously, and after some days the wound sloughed, leaving a large 
hole. It was more than two months before the man was able to leave 
the hospital." 




FEED S PKIZE — THE MUD-LAFF. 



94 THE BOY TEAVELLERS IN THE FAE EAST. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

SHOOTING BATS AND IGUANAS.— VISITING THE HOT SPRINGS. 

r I ^HEKE were two boats to-day instead of three, and the course was laid 
-*- for an island three or four miles away. On the way thither their 
host intimated that they were to have a kind of sport they had never seen 
in America, and perhaps had never heard of. It might be a disappoint- 
ment, as it did not require much skill, but in any event it would be a 
novelty. "Wait till we get there," said he, "and then you will know 
what it is. 

"If we have time," he continued, "I will show you a very curious 
place called the Lake of Socolme." 

" Is it beyond this lake ?" one of the boys asked, as he glanced around, 
and concluded that the question of time was very doubtful. 

" No, it is in this lake," was the reply, " or rather it is in an island of 
the lake. Socolme is an island about three miles in circumference, and is 
supposed to be the top of an extinct volcano with a lake or pond in its 
crater. The island is two or three hundred feet high, and the pond is in 
the centre of it, and at a higher elevation than the great lake. The pond 
has been sounded and found to be three hundred feet in depth, while 
there are not more than seventy-five feet of water in any part of the 
lake. 

" The curious thing about Socolme is the vast numbers of crocodiles 
that inhabit it. They are so numerous, and so dangerous, that the In- 
dians will not go there alone, and it is with the greatest difficulty that we 
can persuade them to accompany us when we make an excursion there. 
Sometimes hundreds of these reptiles are visible, and they are of the 
largest size ; what it is that keeps them there I cannot say, but presume 
they find something specially attractive in the depth of the water. 

"The birds have found that the Indians do not molest them on So- 
colme, and so they go there to lay their eggs. Every tree on the shores 
of the little lake is white with guano, and the limbs are crowded with 
nests which are filled with eggs and birds during the breeding season. 



HOW THE INDIANS FIND A TURTLE'S NEST. 95 

" On the shore opposite Socolme there are several springs of hot water, 
and the place is generally known as 'Los Banos,' or ' The Baths.' There 
are plenty of wild pigeons there, and any one who is fond of shooting 
pigeons can have all the sport he wants. 

"A few miles farther to the east is a sand-bank, where the turtles go 
to lay their eggs ; unfortunately it is not the season for them now, or I 
would take you there. The turtles come up in the night to deposit their 
eggs, and return to the water before sunrise, so that when the natives 
want any of the turtles they must hunt them by moonlight; but the 
eggs are a different matter, and when the Indians know where they are, 
they can find them at their leisure." 

Fred suggested that if the turtle covered his eggs over, it must re- 
quire considerable skill to find a nest. 

" You are quite right," was the reply. " The Indians follow the tracks 
of the turtles in the sand, but there are so many of them that it is no 
easy matter. The turtle digs a trench in the sand about two feet deep 
with his broad paws, and then deposits the eggs and covers them. He 
smooths the sand over with his shell and goes away, and if he is favored 
by a shower just after his departure, you might think he had concealed 
his nest completely. But the Indian knows how to discover the deposit ; 
he takes a blunt stick and thrusts it into the sand, and wherever it goes 
in easily he begins to dig with his hands. After a little practice he be- 
comes so expert that he never makes a mistake, but invariably comes 
upon eggs. They have a thin but tough shell, and the yolk contains a 
great deal of oil. The natives eat these eggs raw, but they are too rank 
for the European stomach, though we use some of them in making ome- 
lets and cakes. The Indians crush them in broad trays, and collect the 
oil which soon rises to the top. Turtle oil is quite an article of com- 
merce." 

Frank asked how many eggs were usually found in a nest. 

" The number varies a good deal," was the response. " I have seen a 
hundred and forty taken out of one nest, but usually there are not far 
from a hundred. It is a curious spectacle to see a dozen or more natives 
digging away at the sand, some lying at full length, some on their knees, 
and others bearing baskets full of eggs to the boats tied up to the bank." 

Conversation on various topics consumed the time till the party 
reached one of the islands, and proceeded to land. There were several 
eagles flying in circles high above the boats, and keeping up a perpetual 
screaming as if in protest at the coming of the visitors. The Doctor 
"drew a bead " on one of them with his Remington rifle, and brought him 



•96 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



!'i: : !l!l ! ".; ! 




BAT-SHOOTING IN LUZON. 97 

to the ground — or rather to the lake, where one of the natives paddled 
out and secured the prize. He was a tine fellow, measuring nearly six 
feet from tip to tip of his extended wings. Frank and Fred wished to 
try their skill, and brought up the guns they had used the day before, but 
the Doctor told them nothing but a rifle could have any effect on these 
birds, owing to the height at which they were flying. 

Two or three eagles were shot by the Doctor and his host ; the boys 
each tried to bring down one of the huge birds, but did not succeed, as 
they had not practised with the rifle, and consequently were not expert 
in using it. By-and-by the excitement of shooting eagles came to an end, 
and the party started for the novel sport that had been promised. 

A few hundred yards from the landing-place there was a clump of 
trees, to which the attention of the boys was directed ; Frank remarked 
that the foliage was the darkest he had ever seen on a tree, and Fred sug- 
gested that there must have been a shower of ink not long ago, or per- 
haps the trees grew out of a bed of chimney-soot. Other reasons were 
given for the blackness of the trees — some of them serious and others joc- 
ular — but none were correct. 

The Doctor raised his rifle and fired at one of the trees. The game 
fell to the ground, and Frank ran forward to pick it up. 

"Why, it's a bat!" he exclaimed, as he held the prize by an extended 
wing, " and a large one too." 

"Yes," answered the Doctor, "it belongs to the family of vampires; 
the naturalists call it a roussette, and its genus is pterqpus. Its popular 
name is flying-fox, and the natives find it good eating, though Europeans 
will not generally touch it. Its fur, you perceive, is soft, and it is often 
used for the linings of gloves, but in a tropical climate like this it is not 
of a good quality." 

"But what are they doing here on this island?" Fred asked. "And 
look, the trees are covered with them, all hanging down by their claws 
and apparently asleep." 

"Yes," said Mr. Segovia, "they are asleep, and you may shoot as many 
of them as you like. What you supposed to be black leaves were in re- 
ality bats, and they take the place of the foliage they have destroyed." 

"But do they live here all the time?" inquired Frank. "If they do, 
I should think they would kill the trees by depriving them of the power 
of growing." 

" No," was the reply, " they only stay here during the period of the 
eastern monsoon. They sleep all day, aad go out at night in search of 
food, and with the rising of the sun, or before it, they are back again. 

' 7 



98 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 




BAT SLEEPS. 



When the eastern monsoon stops, and the western one begins, the bats 
leave these islands and go away to the east coast of Luzon, and then the 

trees have a chance to grow. With the 
t r ■. ■"■;.-■• return of the eastern monsoon we have 

the bats again, and then comes our sport 
in shooting them." 

The guns were made ready, and each 
of the party selected a tree for his own 
shooting. They loaded and fired as fast 
as possible for half an hour or more, and 
every shot brought down at least one bat. 
At the end of that time the bats were 
thoroughly alarmed by the noise of the 
shooting, and flew around in a dense 
crowd. More of them were killed while 
circling in the air, till finally they went 
off in a body, and alighted on a neighboring island where nobody cared 
to pursue them. 

Then the sport changed to shooting iguanas, a species of lizard five or 
six feet long, that lives among the rocks near the shore of the lake. Sev- 
eral of these were killed ; but, as there was no need of skill, our friends 
were soon satisfied, and concluded not to slaughter any more. When the 
bats and iguanas that had been shot 
were piled together at tne landing-place, 
one of the boys very naturally asked, 
"What will we do with them?" 

"As to that," said their host, "it is 
a question easily answered ; we'll give 
them to our native boatmen, who will 
be very glad to have such a present. 
The flesh of both bat and iguana is del- 
icate, but Europeans have a prejudice 
against it, and so we do not put it on 
our tables as a regular article of food. 
If you would like to try it we will have 
some prepared for dinner, and if you 
can lay aside prejudice, I am sure you 
will find it excellent." 

The boys concluded they would not venture on an experiment, al- 
though they frankly acknowledged that nothing but prejudice kept them 




THE IGUANA. 



THE POWER OF IMAGINATION. 



99 



from doing so. "The bat," said Fred, "is what we may call a clean feed- 
er, and so is the iguana, if what I have read of their habits is correct ; but 
prejudice is against them, and we will let them alone." 

" Yes," responded Frank, continuing on the topic, " none of us have 
any prejudice against pork, yet the hog is the farthest possible from being 
a model of neatness in his habits. We would not eat dog or cat, but there 
is no more dainty animal in the world than a well-reared terrier or house- 
tabby." 

" On this point," said their host, " I can tell you a good story. Mr. 
La Gironiere, who formerly owned Jala-jala, used to bring his guests 
over here for the same 
sport you have been en- 
joying. One day he had 
in his party a couple of 
Americans, and on the way 
back one of them said they 
would like to try the flesh 



of the bat and the iguana. 
Thinking they were in ear- 
nest, the host told his cook 
to make a curry of iguana, 
and a ragout, or stew, of bat, 
and serve them for dinner. 
The cook did as he was 
ordered, and the first dish 
on the table was the curry. 
Everybody ate heartily, and 
pronounced the curry excel- 
lent ; and then the host ventured to remark, ' You see the flesh of the 
iguana is very delicate.' 

"This was enough. Every plate was pushed aside, including that of 
the American who had made the proposal, and not a mouthful more of 
i curry could any one eat. Some even fled from the table, and could not 
be prevailed on to return until the strange dish had been removed, and 
the order for the bat stew was countermanded. You see what prejudice 
is ; they all thought the curry delicious till they knew what it was made 
of, and probably they would have said the same of the ragout." 

The game was given to the Indians to do what they pleased with it, 
and then the party started on a ramble over the island. Several birds 
were shot on the farther shore, where there was quite a stretch of sand, 

I of c. 




PAUL P. DE LA GIRONIERE. 



100 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



and Doctor Bronson managed to bring down another eagle. Then they 
went back to the landing-place and breakfasted, and after breakfast it was 
proposed to visit the hot baths that have been previously mentioned. Of 




THE GIRL WITH THE LONG HAIR. 



course the proposal was accepted, and Socolme with its numerous croco- 
diles was left to itself. 

The breeze was favorable, and in due time the hot baths were reached. 
Not far from the baths was an Indian village, and our friends paid it a 
visit ; while they were strolling about the place Frank made a discovery, 
and quickly called the attention of the Doctor and Fred. 

A native girl was sitting in a hammock, with one foot hanging over 
the side; she eyed the strangers with some curiosity, but did not show 
half as much as they did in looking at her. The particular object of 
their attention was her hair, which hung to the ground on each side of 
the hammock, and would doubtless have reached to her feet if she had 
stood erect. The hair was jet black, and apparently fine; though of this 
latter condition the youths could not speak positively. 

The Doctor told the boys that the Indians of the Philippines were 
famous for fine heads of hair, and they are naturally proud of them. He 
said there was a story, of very doubtful veracity, that there is a- tribe of 
Indians in one of the islands of the group that always choose their queen 
by the length of her hair. When a queen dies every woman in the tribe 



PECULIARITIES OF ABACA, OR MANILLA HEMP. 101 

falls to measuring her hair; and the one with the longest measurement, 
even though it be only a hair -breadth greater than that of any other, 
is proclaimed queen. 

"Perhaps, then," said one of the boys, "this girl here is endeavoring 
to qualify herself to be queen one of these days, and wear the royal 
crown. It is not likely that any one else can boast of longer hair than 
she has." 

When their curiosity was satisfied they moved on, and a short dis- 
tance farther came to where a woman was weaving cloth. It was the 
most primitive loom the boys had ever seen, and they stopped for sev- 
eral minutes to look at it. The Doctor told them that the material 
which she was weaving was abaca, or vegetable silk ; and, while they 
were examining the loom, he explained how the fibre was grown and 
prepared. 

" The abaca," he said, " is grown on the mountain slopes, and thrives 
best in a volcanic soil. It belongs to the banana family, and produces 
an abundance of seed ; but the seed is not used for planting, owing to 
the long time required for it to grow up to be useful. The plants are 
propagated from cuttings taken from the base of the old trunk and set 
in the earth, where they soon take root and begin to grow. For the 
first two years much attention is needed to keep down the weeds which 
threaten to choke the plants ; but by the third year the plant puts out 
its own broad leaves, and is able to take care of itself with an occasional 
slight weeding. 

" The vegetable silk is largely exportea to Europe and America under 
the name of Manilla hemp; but it is only the coarser quality that goes 
to market. The finer kinds are woven by the natives, as you now see, 
and some of the cloth that they produce is as delicate as cambric or 
muslin. It is surprising what these people are able to accomplish with 
their rude implements and machinery. 

" ISTo less than twelve varieties of abaca are cultivated ; and it has 
been found that while it grows luxuriantly in some localities, it will not 
live at all in others. It takes from three to four years for the plant to 
produce fibre of a proper quality ; at first only one stalk is cut from each 
bush, but later on the new branches grow so fast that they can be cut 
every eight or ten weeks. A good plantation will yield a ton and a half 
to the acre, and sometimes as high as two tons have been gathered. 

"Now, let us look at the loom where the weaving is going on. Per 
haps Frank had better take down a description of it." 

Frank brought out his note-book and wrote as follows, partly from 



102 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



his own observation, and partly from the dictation of Doctor Bronson 
and Fred : 

" The upper end consists of a piece of bamboo fastened between two 
posts, and the end of the web is tied to it. The weaver sits on the 
ground, and holds the lower end of the web by means of a wooden bow 
that passes across her back ; she places her feet against a couple of pegs 
set in the ground, and by leaning backward draws the web out straight. 
The shuttle consists of a netting- needle a little longer than the width 




A PRIMITIVE LOOM IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 



of the web, and, after the thread has been passed through the web, it is 
driven to its place with a wooden comb. A lath of hard wood serves as 
a trestle, and is turned on its edge after every stroke. 

" With this simple apparatus many thousand yards of cloth are woven 
in the Philippine Islands every year; it is the cloth almost universally 
worn by the natives, and it is wonderful to what a degree of fineness it 
is brought when we remember the rudeness of the loom." 

When they had satisfied their curiosity concerning the weaving proc- 
ess they continued their walk, and soon found themselves outside the vil- 



HOW THE BANANA GROWS. 



lOi 



lage, and in the midst of a banana-field. It was Fred's turn now to write 
something, and accordingly he set down a brief description of the banana 
plant as he saw it in the Philippine Islands : 

" The trunk of the banana plant is formed of leaves placed one above 
another, and cannot properly be called a tree, as it does not contain any 
woody fibre. It rises from eight to twelve feet 
high, and spreads out near the top into leaves five 
or six feet long. The flower rises from the middle 
of these leaves, and also the spike that holds the 
fruit ; the latter is called the ' regime,' and some- 
times has a hundred or more bananas clinging 
to it. 

" Before the fruit is ripe the spike is cut, and 
soon becomes fit for use. The part of the plant 
which is in the earth is a sort of large root, and 
from it there will be successively thirty or more 
shoots, each one containing its bunch of fruit. As 
the shoots are of different ages, a single plant con- 
tains fruit in all conditions of growth, some ripening while other bunch- 
es are just beginning to form. Consequently, every two or three weeks 
throughout the year a bunch may be cut, and it does not require a very 
large field to support a man. A good many people eat little else than 
rice and bananas, and if a man is very poor, he can get along with wild 
bananas that he gathers in the forest, though he is liable to find it monot- 
onous living." 




THE BANANA. 



104: THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAK EAST. 



CHAPTER IX. 

AN EXCURSION AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.— RETURN TO MANILLA.— AN 
EARTHQUAKE, AND WHAT CAME OF IT. 

OUR friends were back from the hot springs in good time in the after- 
noon, and the next day they proceeded with their own boat to make 
farther excursions in Luzon. We will let Frank and Fred tell the story, 
which they did in a letter that left Manilla by the next mail. 

After describing the experiences already recorded, the letter ran as 
follows : 

" When we left Jala-jala we went farther up the lake and over to the 
other side, so as to make a journey in the mountains, and among the na- 
tive inhabitants. Mr. Segovia said that the farther we went into the in- 
terior the wilder and more primitive would we find the people, but that 
their manners and customs were generally much alike. The Spanish offi- 
cials are scattered all over the country, and every town and village has its 
alcalde or mayor, who is elected by the people, but must be approved by 
the governor. The larger towns and villages have Spanish alcaldes, but 
in the smaller places the officials are native, and sometimes very ignorant. 
An alcalde, whether Spanish or native, considers himself a very important 
personage, and when dressed in his best clothes and out for a walk his 
appearance is quite comical. 

"At the first village where we landed, on the other side of the lake, 
the alcalde and his constable came to meet us, as they had heard the day 
before that we were coming, through a message sent by our guide. The 
alcalde was a short, stout man, and carried a gold-headed cane, which was 
his staff of office ; he wore his shirt outside his trousers, after the custom 
of the country, and he had a dress-coat over it, evidently made for him 
years ago when he was thinner. He wore a bell-crowned hat, tilted on 
one side, like some of the men you see on Broadway, and he had wooden 
shoes on his stockingless feet. Behind him came the constable, who was 
a great contrast to his master in shape and form ; he was thin as a fishing- 
rod, and carried his hat in his hand, while his feet were quite bare. One 



PECULIAR CUSTOMS IN THE EAST. 



105 



of us made a rough sketch of the pair while they were talking with Mr. 
Segovia and the Doctor. 

"We are told that the Spanish alcaldes generally get rich in a few 
years, if they happen to be in good districts; but there are some that go 
away as poor as they came. The governor rewards his friends by secur- 
ing their election to good places where they may make money. This may 
seem very strange to you at home, but you must remember that we are in 
Luzon, on the other side of the world from America ; of course nothing 
like it was ever heard of in the United States. 




AN ALCALDE AND HIS CONSTABLE. 



"We engaged saddle-horses for an excursion among the mountains, 
and some porters to carry our baggage; the latter started off in advance, 
and we were to overtake them at a village where we would pass the 
night. There was no trouble in getting the horses, as their owners were 
quite willing to hire them out ; but the engagement of the porters was 
not so easy. The people are not fond of hard work, and you may be sure 
it is no joke to carry ever so small a parcel in this hot climate. The 



106 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAB EAST. 




mayor arranged it for us and selected the men, and he also fixed the price 
for us to pay. When they were assigned to the work, each man picked up 
the lightest thing he could find — one an umbrella, and another a field-glass 
that didn't weigh a pound, while a third seized a little dressing-case be- 
longing to Mr. Segovia. They were 
about to move off with these loads 
when the alcalde called them back, 
and made them distribute the bag- 
gage evenly. When it was proper- 
ly arranged, they had about twenty- 
five pounds apiece, which was not 
at all too much. 

" At first the road was through 
a level country, and among fields of 
rice, tobacco, and other things that 
grow on the lowlands. We saw 
great numbers of palm-trees, and at 
one place there was quite a long av- 
enue of them which somebody had 
set out when they were small, and 
allowed them to grow. It is diffi- 
cult to say how many varieties of 
these trees we saw in the day's jour- 
ney, but there must have been a 
dozen at least. The most useful of 
them was the sugar-palm ; its name 
indicates its character, as it is culti- 
vated for the sugar it produces, very 
much as the maple is cultivated in 
some parts of the United States and 
Canada. 

" Perhaps you would like to 
know how they make sugar from a palm-tree. Well, this is the way they 
do it: 

" The tree is tapped by cutting a deep notch in it seven or eight feet. 
from the top, and attaching a section of bamboo to serve as a bucket to 
catch the sap or juice. As fast as the bamboos fill up they must be 
changed, and a good tree will yield eight or ten quarts daily for about six 
weeks. The juice is then boiled down, just as the juice of the sugar-cane 
or maple-tree is boiled, and is finally granulated into a coarse brown sugar. 



:**5**.- 



AN AVENUE OF PALM-TREES. 



SUGAR FROM PALM-TREES. 107 

" The juice of another variety of the tree is used for making palm- 
brandy, and it is said that thirty-six quarts of the juice will make six 
quarts of spirit. The buds of the tree are cut before they have time 
to blossom, and the sap that runs from them is caught in bamboos, 
just as in the case of the other kind of tree. The juice is then fer- 
mented into wine, which is afterward distilled into brandy. The gov- 
ernment used to have the monopoly of the business, and though pri- 
vate individuals could make all they wished, they were obliged to sell 
to the government at a fixed price. The contractors made large profits 
on the business, and you may be sure the government did not lose any- 
thing. But so much of the proceeds of the business were consumed in 
the expense of gathering, that the government a few years ago gave 
up the monopoly, and allowed the manufacturers to pay taxes on what 
they sold, just as the manufacturers of spirits do in other countries. 

"As we went back from the lake the country became more and 
more hilly, and when we stopped at night we were close to the moun- 
tains. The air seemed cooler, because we had been constantly ascend- 
ing, but we were surrounded with tropical trees quite as much as in 
the lower country. Just as we came into the village where we were 
to spend the night, our attention was called to a native clock, and we 
stopped to have a look at it. 

"You never saw such a clock in America, or rather such a bell, for 
it was really a bell for sounding the hours, and not a timepiece. 

"A log that had been hollowed out was suspended under a tree by 
one end, through which a lot of ropes were passed. This was the bell, 
and it was struck with a smaller log suspended near it; a watchman came 
every hour from the house of the priest, where there was a real clock that 
showed the time. Of course such a rude apparatus as this could not be 
exact, as the watchman is not very careful. Sometimes he makes the 
hours only fifteen minutes long, and when he has struck all of them, he 
goes home and has a comfortable rest. In this way he can make it noon 
before it is nine o'clock in the morning; in the middle of the day there 
is nothing to do, and he will stay away three or four hours without com- 
ing near the timepiece at all. 

" Some children coming from school stopped to look at us while we 
were looking at the clock, and this made us ask about the schools among 
the natives. We were told that there were schools in all the villages; 
the school-master is paid by the government, and generally receives about 
two dollars a month, without board or lodging. If the village is a large 
one, he has three dollars and a half a month, and must pay for an as- 



108 



THE BOY TRAVELLEKS IN THE FAK EAST. 



sistant out of his own pocket ; the assistant is usually a woman, who 
teaches the younger children, and her wages are one dollar a month, with 
a little present at the end of the year. The schools are under the super- 




A VILLAGE CLOCK. 



vision of the priests of the districts, and about half the children do not 
go to school at all. They teach reading and writing, and a little arith- 
metic ; the Indians learn arithmetic very easily, and each scholar has a 
pile of shells before him, which he counts over and over again when he 
is learning the numerals. With the same shells he studies addition, sub- 
traction, multiplication, and division, by separating them into little heaps, 
and it is said to be very amusing to see the scholars at their tasks. They 
learn to write on a table covered with sand, and as fast as they have 
written an exercise, the sand is smoothed over for another. This odd 
sort of copy-book cannot be carried home at night; and, in fact, they 
don't have more than two or three books altogether. The reading-book 



NEAE A VOLCANO. 



109 



is the " Christian Doctrine," so that the scholars get their religious educa- 
tion along with anything else they are learning. They remember their 
religion longer than they do their arithmetic, as they soon forget all else 
that they have learned, unless they go into employments requiring a 
knowledge of reading and writing. 

"The next morning we went farther up into the interior, and came 
in sight of a mountain that looked like a great pile of ashes, and had a 
little wreath of smoke issuing from near the top. Onr guide told us it 
was a volcano that had an eruption a few years before, but was now very 
quiet; what we said looked like ashes was the cone of the mountain cov- 
ered with the volcanic ashes that had been thrown up. We wanted to 
climb the mountain, but there wasn't time; and, besides, it came on to 
rain, and we had to stop. The rain kept up through the night. and all 
the next day, and we concluded to return to Manilla as soon as we could. 






A VOLCANO IN REPOSE. 



and get ready to move on somewhere else. Perhaps you will want to 
know what we would have seen if we had gone across the island, and all 
through it. 



110 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



" We should have been some time among the mountains, as there 
is a chain of them running the whole length of Luzon ; many of these 
mountains are volcanic, and some of them do a good deal of smoking. 
Perhaps we should have felt the earth trembling under us suddenly, and 
continuing to tremble for several seconds, as it is said to do here very 
often ; we have experienced two or three little earthquakes, and are in 
no hurry to make the acquaintance of a large one, though we are liable 
to do so at any moment. 

" Perhaps we could have gone to the gold mines ; but it is doubtful, 
as the government is not willing to let strangers see them, and they even 

put a good many difficulties in 
the way of Spaniards who want 
to go there. It is certain there 
is a considerable area of country 
in Luzon containing gold, and 
lumps have been found worth 
two or three hundred dollars. 
Several mines have been open- 
ed, but they have not paid the 
men who own the stock, though 
it is hinted that the managers 
on the ground have done well. 
Our Spanish friend asked if this 
was not the case sometimes in 
America ; but we told him we 
had never owned any gold mines, 
and consequently could not give 
him any precise information. He 
laughed, and then talked about 
something else, without again mentioning gold-mines. 

"Then we might have seen mines of lead, copper, and other metals; 
and we should have travelled through dense forests, where not even a 
horse can go. If we had undertaken such a journey, we should have 
been escorted by natives with spears and shields, as they have very lit- 
tle knowledge of fire-arms. The Spaniards are unwilling to let them 
have any weapons with which they could fight ; and, as they have no 
noxious animals to contend with, there is no occasion for them to be 
armed. There are no tigers, lions, or similar beasts of prey in the Phil- 
ippines ; the wild animals have already been mentioned, and include the 
boar and buffalo, which are not dangerous as long as you let them alone. 




INDIANS OF THE INTERIOR. 



FOREST-TRAVELLLNG IN THE PHILIPPINES. 



Ill 




112 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



" Well, we'll give one jump right back to Manilla, and get ready to 
leave. Here we are, safe and sound, though somewhat tired from being 
cramped up in a boat, and sore from riding on horseback and walking 
over rough ground. We have seen a great many new things, and had 
experiences that were new to us, and we have — " 

Here the writing of the letter was interrupted by a violent shaking 
of the table at which the boys were seated ; Frank was thrown from his 
chair, and Fred saved himself from going over by grasping the table with 
both hands, and resting his weight upon it. The Doctor was lying on a- 



,lJ 



tib£3 




STREET SCENE DURING AN EARTHQUAKE. 



lounge a few feet away, and engaged in the perusal of a parcel of papers 
just received from New York ; his reading was instantly suspended, and 
he came to his feet at the very moment Frank fell to the floor. 
" An earthquake ! an earthquake !" said Frank. 

"An earthquake, certainly," answered Fred; " there's no mistaking it." 

The Doctor said not a word, but seized his hat and started for the 

street, followed by both the boys. By the time they reached there the 

streets were crowded with people in the greatest state of alarm ; many 



FRANK AND FEED IN AN EARTHQUAKE. 113 

were on their knees in prayer, and in a few moments a priest appeared 
carrying a crucifix, to which many eyes were turned. Tiles were falling 
from the roofs, walls were crashing into heaps of ruins, seams opened in 
the earth, men and women were shouting and screaming in terror, and 
what had been only a few minutes before a peaceful and sleepy city, was 
now a scene of wild excitement and desolation. 

Our friends sought the middle of the street and there stopped, the 
Doctor assuring the boys that they ought to be as far as possible from the 
falling walls and tiles. " It often happens," said he, " that an earthquake 
shock is followed by another a few minutes later, and sometimes the sec- 
ond is more severe than the first. We'll wait here awhile, and then be 
guided by the movements of the inhabitants; if they go back to their 
houses we can return to the hotel." 

The shock was not renewed, and after a while the alarm began to sub- 
side, but very slowly ; word came that the cathedral had been thrown 
down, but luckily no one had been injured, as it was not the hour of 
service, and the custodians of the place were outside the doors at the 
moment of the shock. Several of the government buildings were de- 
stroyed, and it was thought many people had been crushed to death by 
the falling walls. It was impossible at that time to estimate the damage, 
but it was known to be very great. 

The Doctor suggested that they would walk to the cathedral and 
see the extent of the ruin, and so the trio proceeded there. Every few 
steps they met dozens of people rushing wildly about in spite of the ef- 
forts of others to calm them. As they n eared the cathedral the crowd be- 
came more and more dense, but happily less excited ; it was a matter of 
some difficulty to get near the ruins, but by patience and perseverance 
Doctor Bronson and the youths worked their way to the front of the as- 
•seniblage, and close up to the heap of brick and stone. 

A part of the front had fallen, and with it one of the sides; but the 
rest of the walls remained standing, though there were great seams here 
and there that showed the work was seriously weakened, and would need 
to be torn down if it did not fall. The roof was crushed, owing to the 
loss of support on one side, and the rafters and the covering boards lay in 
a confused mass on the floor. 

It began to grow dark, as the earthquake occurred a little before sun- 
set, and our friends deemed it best to return to the hotel. They reached 
it in safety, and found it had not suffered greatly by the shaking it had 
received ; like many of the houses of Manilla it was only one story in 
height, and the roof was lightly constructed, partly because the climate 



114 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

did not require a heavy one, and partly with a view to avoiding injury in 
the frequent disturbances to w T hich Luzon is subject. The walls were 
cracked in a few places, and some of the tiles had been dislodged ; but 
the proprietor thought that for twenty dollars he could repair all the 
damages. 

Very naturally the conversation during the evening was devoted to 
earthquakes, and the boys accumulated a considerable stock of informa- 
tion on the subject. Fred turned to Mr. Jagor's book on the Philippines, 
and found that a great many earthquakes had been recorded in Manilla, 
the most fatal occurring in the years 1601, 1610, 1615, 1658, 16T5, 1796, 
1824, 1852, and 1863.* On the third of June, 1863, at thirty-one minutes 
past seven in the evening, after a day of tremendous heat, and while all 
Manilla was busy with preparations for a religious festival, the ground 
suddenly rocked to and fro with great violence; the firmest buildings 
reeled visibly, walls crumbled, and beams snapped in two. The shock 
lasted half a minute; but this little interval of time was enough to 
change the whole city into a mass of ruins, and to bury alive hundreds 
of its inhabitants. The cathedral, the barracks, the governor's resi- 
dence, and all the public buildings were entirely destroyed ; 400 per- 
sons w T ere killed, 2000 were wounded, and the loss in money was esti- 
mated at $8,000,000. Forty-six public and 570 private buildings were 
thrown down, and all the houses that remained standing were more or 
less injured. 

Frank asked the Doctor what was the cause of an earthquake, and 
whether the movements of the ground were always the same. 

" The cause is difficult to get at," Doctor Bronson answered, "although 
the wisest men in all ages have studied the phenomenon, and endeavored 
to make a satisfactory theory for it. The ancient philosophers supposed 
that the winds became imprisoned in the earth, and, in their struggles to 
escape, gave rise to the upheaval of the land and the general convulsions. 
In the last century a French scientist contended that large quantities of 
bituminous and sulphurous matter became suddenly inflamed, and broke 
forth in violent fermentations. The still more modern theory is that the 
surface of the earth is only a thin crust over a mass of melted matter; 
that we live on the outside of a ball of liquid fire, which is liable to ex- 
plode at any time, and put an end to us and all around. It is argued that 
the volcanoes now in activity are the outlets for this internal fire, and the 

* ; 'A severe earthquake occurred at Manilla in the latter part of 1880, throwing down the 
cathedral and other buildings, but the full details are not at hand. — Author. 



HOW AN EARTHQUAKE COMES. 



115 



occasional eruptions and earthquakes are the result of the fire seeking 
vent, in consequence of the clogging of the subterranean passages." 

Frank thought the theory was not very comforting, and on the whole 
he preferred the older one. Fred agreed with him, and then the Doctor 
continued : 

" The movements of the ground are not always the same in earth- 
quakes ; sometimes there will be only a single shock, or more frequently 
two about twenty seconds or even a minute apart, and again there will 
be a succession of shocks lasting for hours, or even days, at irregular in- 
tervals. The latter is oftener the case in South America than in other 
parts of the world ; there the ground keeps up a rocking more or less 
continual for hours, and the later shocks are generally more violent than 
the earlier ones. Usually, however, the earthquake comes without warn- 
ing, and is over in less than a minute, but in that space of time the de- 
struction may be terrible. 

" Sometimes the earthquake comes in the form of a blow of the sur- 









DESTRUCTION OF MESSINA IN 1783. 



face of the earth from beneath, and in this shape it is most fatal and de- 
structive. The earth seems to rise into the air as though there was a 
great explosion beneath it ; buildings are forced upward and fall in frag- 
ments, and whole villages and towns are tossed against the hills and 



116 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE EAR EAST. 



mountains in the vicinity, while men and animals are conveyed hundreds 
of yards away, either with or without the land on which they are stand- 
ing. The great earthquake of 1783 in Southern Italy and Sicily, that 
destroyed Messina and other cities, was of this character. A peasant was 




ITALIAN PEASANTS INGULFED BY CREVASSES. 

carried from one part of a valley to another, together with the field where 
he was at work; and at another place people were hurled against the top 
and sides of a hill. Messina seemed to be lifted up in an instant of time, 
and then fell back again, burying thousands of people beneath the crum- 
bling stones. There was no warning in any form ; but the movement of 
the ground was accompanied by a roaring sound, which seemed to be far 
down in the earth. Ships were dashed against the shore, or overwhelmed 
with the huge waves that accompanied the earthquake, and the ground 
opened in many places in great cracks, that soon closed up again and 
swallowed those who happened to be caught in them. 

" To show how complete was the destruction by that earthquake, we 
will consider the effects on the town of Terra Nova. It stood on an ele- 
vated plateau that had deep gorges on three sides of it. The shock of 
the earthquake shook the plateau to pieces, and it rolled down into the 
gorges, carrying houses and inhabitants with it. Men, women, and chil- 
dren were swallowed up, and so complete was the devastation, that noth 



RELATION BETWEEN VOLCANOES AND THE SEA. 



117 



ing remained to show where the town had been. The ground continued 
to tremble at intervals for months after this great earthquake, but there 
were no shocks as severe as the first." 

" Haven't I read somewhere," said one of the boys, " that the severest 
earthquakes are near the sea ?" 

" Quite possibly you have read it," the Doctor answered, " for such 
is the case. There seems to be some kind of relationship between the 
sea and volcanoes and earthquakes ; the greatest and most active volca- 
noes are not far removed from the sea or ocean, and some are actually 
in it. Vesuvius and Etna, rise from the edge of the Mediterranean, while 
nearly on a line between them we find Stromboli, which has been in ac- 
tive eruption for two thousand years. It is called the light-house of the 
Mediterranean, and is very useful to mariners, as it gives a flash of light 
at regular intervals of a few minutes, and can be seen at night from a 
great distance. It is directly in the track of steamers between Naples 
and Messina, and makes a most excellent landmark. 

"There are volcanoes that have their craters under water — or rather 
there are submarine eruptions that would be in the form of volcanoes 





A SUBMARINE ERUPTION. 



if they were on land. I once saw one of these eruptions while going 
through the eastern part of the Mediterranean, near the Santorin Islands. 
There was a column of dense smoke rising from the water, and it could 



118 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

be seen for miles ; above it, and not very far up, was a cloud formed from 
this smoke, and it made a very noticeable contrast to the clouds on the 
horizon, which were tinged by the light of the setting sun. The air was 
filled with a smell of sulphur, and all around there were bubbles rising 
from the water as though the entire sea was impregnated with gas. We 
sailed quite near the place where the smoke was rising, and had an ex- 
cellent view of it. When the eruption began there were thousands on 
thousands of fish killed by the sulphur, and for some days the people 
from the islands used to go out and get them by the boat-load. 

"An effect of an earthquake occurring near the sea," Doctor Bronson 
continued, "is the tidal wave that causes a great part of the destruction." 

Fred asked what was the difference between a tidal wave and an 
ordinary one. 

" The tide, as you know," the Doctor replied, " is the rising and fall- 
ing of the waters of the ocean, and the seas and bays that extend from 
it. The ordinary wave is caused by the action of the wind blowing upon 
the flat surface of the water, while the tidal wave is not. In most in- 
stances where an earthquake occurs near the sea, there is a rush of water 
in a wave more or less great — first upon the land, and then away from it. 

"In 1868 there was an earthquake on the west coast of South Amer- 
ica, which furnishes an excellent example of what I have mentioned. 
At first the ground shook with a frightful noise ; the whole chain of 
the mountains in the distance trembled like reeds in the wind, and it 
was apparent to every one that a frightful disturbance was at hand. 
The United States steamer Wateree was at anchor in the harbor of 
Arica, Peru, and one of her officers has since told me of the earth- 
quake. He says the sea was perfectly calm at the time, and from the 
decks of the ship they could see the town shaking to pieces, and the 
hills that formed the harbor crumbling and throwing down great masses 
of rock. 

"Several shocks followed, with little intervals, until two -thirds of 
Arica lay in ruins. The ships sent their boats ashore with surgeons to 
assist the wounded, but they had hardly landed before the water began 
to recede as though the tide was running out. It reached the point 
of low tide, and then began to rise again ; and it kept on and on till it 
had reached a point thirty -four feet above high -water mark; it over- 
flowed the town, poured through the streets, and flooded many of the 
houses. Then it flowed back again as fast as it had risen, and carried 
with it the custom-house, the residence of the English consul, and other 
buildings. Hundreds of the people had rushed to the mole or landing, 



TIDAL WAVE WITH AN EARTHQUAKE. 



119 



and as the water swept out through the harbor they were carried with 
it, and many of them were drowned. 

" It was an awful spectacle, enough to terrify the bravest man that 
ever lived. Again the water rose to the same height as before, and 
again it fell, carrying with it houses, merchandise, and even a locomotive 
and some cars that were standing on the railway track. Altogether there 
were eleven of these waves, and then there was another shock of an 
earthquake, lasting about eight minutes, accompanied by repeated rolls 
of thunder and loud rumblings. This was followed by a rush of water 




UNITED STATES WAR-STEAMER " WATEREE," STRANDED AT ARICA IN 1868. 



from the ocean ; it came on in a great wall breasted with foam, and 
poured over the land like an avalanche. Nothing could stand against it; 
the anchor-chains of the ships were snapped like threads, and the Wateree 
and three or four other ships in port were swept inland and stranded. 
The sea retired and left her high and dry about four hundred yards in- 
land, in a position where it was impossible to get her afloat again ; the 
same was the case with an English vessel and a Peruvian gun-boat ; but 
the American store-ship Fredonia was less fortunate. She was knocked 
to pieces on the rocks, and all on board were lost ; her captain and four 
of the crew were ashore at the time, and were saved." 



120 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

Frank asked if there had ever been any earthquakes in the United 
States, and if so, whether they amounted to much. 

"The United States," the Doctor replied, "can hardly be included 
among the lands of the earthquake, though we are not by any means 
exempt from slight shocks. San Francisco has about a dozen disturb- 
ances in a year, but they rarely amount to much. Now and then the 
walls of some of the houses are cracked, and a few are thrown down ; 
the people are more or less frightened, and many threaten to move away 
in consequence, but very few do so. East of the Rocky Mountains there 
have been a few shocks, the most violent being in a period of about 
fifteen months from December 16th, 1811. Philadelphia, Baltimore, 
Boston, New York, Washington, and other cities as far south as Savan- 
nah, were shaken on several occasions, and the earthquakes extended as 
far west as the Mississippi. New Madrid, in Missouri, seemed to be the 
centre of the disturbance. Fissures six or eight feet across were opened 
in the ground, and the land around New Madrid sunk about twelve feet 
below its former level. It is said that in some places the channel of the 
great river was changed, and lakes were formed where none had been 
before. But no lives were lost, and no great damage resulted from these 
earthquakes ; and since that time we have had only an occasional slight 
trembling in some of the eastern States." 

The clock indicated the hour of bedtime, and the talk about earth- 
quakes and their mysteries came to an abrupt end. 



AT SEA AGAIN. 



121 



CHAPTER X. 

FROM MANILLA TO SINGAPORE, AND UP THE STRAITS OF MALACCA.— A 

DAY AT PULO PENANG. 

^^HE next day was passed in closing up letters for the mail, viewing 
-*- the destruction caused by the earthquake, and making preparations 
for leaving Manilla. The Doctor found, on visiting his banker's, that 
there was a steamer ready to start for Singapore on the following morn- 
ing, and that she had accommodations for a few passengers. As she would 
suit their purposes exactly, he engaged places for the party, and in due 




ON THE WAY TO SINGAPORE. 



time they were at sea with the prow of their vessel directed toward the 
Straits of Malacca. 

The anchor was dropped in the harbor of Singapore, and the steamer 
was quickly surrounded with the same swarm of boatmen that greeted 
our friends at the time of their first arrival. Some of the sharp-eyed 
fellows recognized Doctor Bronson and the youths, and claimed them as 
old acquaintances ; the result was that only a few minutes were required 
for the negotiations that had taken so long on their first visit, and be- 



122 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

fore the anchor had been down half an hour the trio were at the hotel 
with their baggage, and safely quartered in their rooms.* 

" We are just in time," said the Doctor, " to catch the steamer that 
leaves here every week for Penang, Rangoon, and Calcutta. We will go 
in her as far as Rangoon, and have a peep at Burmah, and when we have 
done with that strange country we can go somewhere else." 

The boys were delighted with the idea of going to Burmah, and de~ 
clared themselves ready to leave on the instant ; but they moderated 
their enthusiasm on learning that the steamer would not start till noon 
of the next day. A garri was called, and our friends drove to the bank- 
er's and the post-office, and their journey was rewarded with a fine par- 
cel of letters and papers from home. They also called at the United 
States Consulate, and found that two or three letters had been addressed 
to them in care of the consul, and were safely kept by that gentleman, 
pending their return. 

The news from home was entirely satisfactory. The families of 
Frank and Fred were greatly interested in the letters which the youths 
had sent describing their journey, and Miss Effie informed them that 
some of the letters had been given to the editor of their favorite news- 
paper, and so had found their way into print. " And the editor says," 
she added, " that they are good enough to make a book of, and when you 
get home you shall have one printed." 

" What! we make a book!" exclaimed Fred, as Frank read the conclud- 
ing sentence of Miss Effie's letter; "we could never do it in the world !" 

'"Why not?" Frank inquired. Evidently he thought the thing possi- 
ble, perhaps for the reason that his sweetheart so regarded it. 

" Because," Fred answered, " we don't write as the books do, or, at any 
rate, the most of them. We don't trouble ourselves about ' fine writing,' 
whatever that is, but go straight on and tell what we see and hear, the 
same as though we were sitting around the table at home and talking to 
our friends." 

" Perhaps, after all," responded his cousin, "a book written in just 
that way wouldn't be so very bad. It's the kind of book I would prefer 
in reading about a country ; and the fact that the editor prints our let- 
ters, shows that he's of my opinion. However, let's not trouble ourselves 
about the prospects of being book- writers, but go on and make our letters 
just as we've been making them." 



* The description of Singapore will be found in Part II. of "The Boy Travellers in the Far 
East," Chapters XXI. and XXII. 



PRODUCTS OF THE MALAY PENINSULA. 



123 



This was agreed to without further discussion, and the rest of the 
afternoon and the evening were devoted to reading and rereading let- 
ters and papers, and answering the most important of the missives. 

At noon the next day they were steaming out of the harbor of Singa- 
pore, and entering the Straits of Malacca. On their right they had the 
Malay Peninsula stretching away as far as the eye could reach, while 
on their left were the densely-wooded shores of Sumatra. The air was 
warm, but its severity was tempered by a breeze that blew steadily in 
their faces as they steamed up the Straits, and seemed to be laden with 
the odor of spices and other tropical products. At least so thought 
Frank, but the Doctor assured him that the perfume was principally im- 
aginary, as they were not yet where spices grow in profusion. 

" The principal products of the region we are now passing," he ex- 
plained, " are rice, sugar, pepper, and gambler, and none of those articles 
are famous for their odors, with the possible exception of pepper." 

One of the boys asked what gambier was. 

" Gambier," Doctor Bronson answered, " is a vegetable product that 
is largely used in dyeing and tanning, and is sometimes called Japan 
earth, for the reason that when it was first introduced it was supposed 
to be a species of earth, and to come from Japan. The tree or bush that 
produces it is of the same family as the Peruvian bark trees, and is a 
native of the East Indian Archipelago. The leaves and small shrubs 
are boiled in water, and a thick decoction is formed, which is finally 
poured into moulds and allowed to harden in the sun. A great quan- 




- 

BAT ON THE COAST OF SUMATRA. 



124 



THE BOY TRAVELLEES IN THE FAR EAST. 




COAST SCENE IN THE STRAITS OF MALACCA. 



tity of gambier is produced in the Malay Peninsula, and if we went on 
shore we could visit the plantations where it is cultivated. They would 
remind us of the tea-plantations we saw in Java, as the bush is six or 
eight feet high, and looks not unlike the largest tea-shrubs." 

Occasionally the steamer came quite near to the shore, and gave them 
charming glimpses of the scenery of the Malayan Peninsula. Every- 
where there was an abundant vegetation, and the principal trees in the 
landscape were palms and their kindred. Tillages were scattered here 
and there, and the captain of the steamer pointed out several establish- 
ments that he said were the residences of local chiefs, acting under the 
authority of the British Government. Several provinces along this part 
of the peninsula are under British control, though nominally ruled by 
their own sultans ; as long as the sultan remains friendly to the English 
he is allowed to do pretty much as he pleases, but when he defies their 
authority, they speedily chastise him into obedience. Step by step the 
English have increased their power in this part of the world, and the 
movements on the political chess-board indicate that they will not be 
satisfied until they have secured all the territory between their Indian 
possessions and the frontier of China. 

It is three hundred and ninety miles from Singapore to Penang, and 
as the steamer was not of the highest speed, she did not reach there until 



NOVEL METHOD OF CLEARING GROUND. 125 

the morning of the second day from the former port. In fact, the depart- 
ure from Singapore had been timed so that they should arrive early in 
the morning, and have the day before them. Frank and Fred were on 
<leck as the vessel swung into the harbor and came to anchor, and their 
eyes were busily engaged in contemplating the novel sights of the place. 
Doctor Bronson joined them a little later, and arranged with some boat- 
men to take them on shore as soon as breakfast was over. The boatmen 
were similar to those that surrounded the ship on their arrival at Singa- 
pore when they came from Siam — Klings, Chinese, Malays, and Arabs, 
with a sprinkling of negroes from the coast of Africa. 

Penang is an island containing about a hundred square miles in all, 
and is separated from the main-land of the Malay peninsula by a strait 
from two to seven miles in width ; it is sometimes called Prince of Wales 
Island, and by the natives is known as Pulo Penang, "pulo" being the 
Malay word for island. It is an important English possession, and was 
under the British flag long before Singapore. The history of its transfer 
to the English is somewhat romantic, and is told as follows: 

It formerly belonged to the King or Sultan of Quedah, in Malacca, 
and was given by him to his daughter on the occasion of her marriage 
with Captain Light in 1785. Light was master of an English ship trading 
in the Straits, 'and a few years after his marriage he sold the island to the 
East India Company, on condition of being appointed governor. After- 
ward he negotiated with his father-in-law to give the English authority 
over the whole province of Quedah on payment of an annual subsidy ; 
the sultan consented, and since that time the English have had complete 
possession. 

We will let the boys tell the story of their sight-seeing in Penang 
during the day the ship remained there : 

" We had no trouble in going ashore, as the boatmen were in compe- 
tition with each other, and did not demand as high prices as at Singapore; 
for a dollar apiece we were brought on shore and taken back to the ship 
again at the end of the day, and the captain says we might have done 
better than that if we had bargained a little longer. The harbor is at the 
northern end of the strait that separates Penang from the main-land, and a 
very nice harbor it is. The capital is called Georgetown, and we are told 
that it has about 100,000 inhabitants; such a mixture you never saw in 
America, and we don't believe there are a dozen places in the world with 
such an odd population. The English are the masters, but there are not 
more than a thousand of them, not counting the garrison of soldiers; and 
there are a few Germans, French, Italians, Greeks, and other Europeans. 



126 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

The rest are Malays, Chinese, Parsees, Klings, Bengalees, Arabs, and de- 
scendants of the early Portuguese settlers, together with a few other sorts 
and kinds ' too numerous to mention.' 

" We went through the town, but there was nothing very curious,, 
after what we have seen and described to you in Singapore, and so we 
didn't take a long time about it. Each of us bought a Penang lawyer to 
take along. What do you suppose a Penang lawyer is? 

"It is a cane, or walking-stick, with a straight stem; it has a root 
shaped like an egg, and forming a capital thing for the hand to grasp- 
when the cane is finished and polished. These canes are called lawyers, 
because they are employed in settling disputes, and they certainly appear 
very useful for that purpose. One of them has been known to finish a 
discussion in a few seconds where an ordinary attorney would have taken 
an hour or two, and. then would have been as far from the end of it as 
ever. The shillalah of the Irishman is something like it, but though it 
may be quite as effective, it is not half as handsome. 

" Back of Georgetown the hills rise up nearly if not quite two thou- 
sand feet, and we were told that from the summit we could have a mag- 
nificent view. So we climbed up there, or rather we took a carriage to 
the foot of the hills, and then hired coolies with chairs to carry us the rest 
of the way. You cannot imagine a prettier excursion. The tropical 
trees, with their splendid foliage, shade the roads and paths, and some- 
times you can go a mile or more without a ray of the sun striking you ; 
at every turn there is a charming view of some kind or other, and you are 
constantly in sight of delightful summer-houses, where the merchants and 
professional residents of Penang have their homes. Higher and higher 
you go, and find the air becoming cooler as you ascend ; when you are at 
the summit, you find the temperature ten or twenty degrees less than in 
Georgetown, and are glad that you brought along your light overcoat. 

"As we stand at the top we look away to the main-land, and our guide 
says that in clear weather we can see ninety miles. The harbor with its 
shipping is in full view, and we have the whole panorama of the island 
and a long stretch of the Malay peninsula. We seem to be at the top of 
a great mound of trees, as the whole of the hills are thickly wooded. 
Farther down there are cleared spaces, especially in the valleys and plains, 
and we can see fields of rice, sugar-cane, and other products of the warm 
regions of the earth. On the upper parts of the hills the air is cool 
enough for the cultivation of European vegetables and flowers that will 
not grow in the vicinity of Georgetown. 

" Where the forest is neglected, even for a few months, it soon be- 



TKOPICAL TREES. 



127 



fill] III 
1 Wife -isgs%-*: 

if c 

mm WM 

■mi 




/7^Wf 



138 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



comes so overgrown with jungle that it is not easy to get through it; 
Doctor Bronson says it is a constant fight with nature to keep down the 
verdure, and if Penang were left to itself for a single year it would be 
all overgrown, as when Captain Light came here nearly a hundred years 




A SUBURBAN COTTAGE. 



ago. They tell a funny story of how Captain Light cleared away the 
jungle. He used to load cannon with silver dollars, and then fire them 
into the grass and bushes ; then the Malays went to work to find the dol- 
lars, and, of course, they had to clear the ground before they could do so. 
" Where we left our carnage there was a pretty water-fall, and we saw 
several little cascades on our journey. They are fed by water from the 
clouds that sweep over Penang, especially during the time of the south- 
west monsoon, and every owner of a bungalow on the mountain-side tries 
to have a stream of water going through his place, and if he can get a 
cascade in it, so much the better. Some of the residents have bathing- 
houses at the foot of their cascades, and they go there to get cool ; a more 
delightful bath-house than one we saw it would be difficult to imagine. 
It had a floor of the solid rock of the island, and the water fell into a nat- 
ural basin about four feet deep, and then ran oft' through a channel it had 
worn for itself in hundreds of years of patient work. 



INSECT LIFE IN PENANG. 



129 



" Penan g is full of insect life ; in some places where we went there 
was such a buzzing of beetles and other humming things that our voices 
were drowned when we were twenty yards apart. It reminded us of the 
buzzing of machinery in a cotton factory, and there was more of it in the 
early part of the day than later on. There is one beetle they call 'the 
trumpeter,' that does not rest from making a noise from morning till 
night unless he is disturbed; when you go near a tree where he is he 
stops, and does not start again till you go away. There are lots and lots 
•of butterflies, and they are of all sizes and colors ; there is one called the 
' Saturnia-atlas ' that measures ten or twelve inches across the wings, but 
he is not very abundant, and the only one we saw was in a glass case 
in the office of a merchant we called on. We saw some -beautiful hum- 
ming-birds, and were told that there are several varieties of these tiny 




A PENANG BUTTERFLY. 



things in Penang. There was a bright metallic lustre all over them, and 
when we looked at them in a certain light they glistened like a piece of 
burnished steel. 

" How many kinds of trees there are in Penang it is difficult to say, 
but there are great numbers of them. Some of them are so heavy that 
they will sink in water; the Chinese and Malays take these woods to 
make anchors for their boats and junks, and they use the rattans and 
bamboos for cordage if they cannot afford twisted ropes. Many of the 

9 



130 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



plants live entirely on air, and we saw trees a foot in diameter growing 
on a rock where there wasn't a particle of soil. The moist air is what 
they thrive on, and they seem as well satisfied on a rock as in the rich- 
est soil. 

" We asked how many fruits there were in Penang, and learned 
that they amounted to a hundred, and perhaps more. They have that 
delicious fruit, the mangosteen, that we told you about when in Java ; 
and then they have the pineapple, custard -apple, pomegranate, mango, 
banana, and we don't know what else. We tried to eat the durian 
again, but couldn't get through it ; and, as we are not to be very long 

in the land of this fruit, 
we don't think it worth 
our while to learn. 

" At night the air is 
full of fire-flies, and some- 
times they are so brilliant 
that they resemble a torch- 
light procession just break- 
ing up. Then the natives 
kindle fires under the trees 
to cook their meals ; and, 
as you ride or walk along 
the roads, the scene is a cu- 
rious one, as the figures of 
these dark-skinned people 
are brought into strong re- 
lief by the light. 
"You see so many Chinese in Penang that you can easily believe 
you are in Shanghai or Hong-Kong. They are everywhere, and in all 
kinds of business, from the most important to the most humble ; they 
are wholesale merchants of every name and kind, and they practise all 
the industries known to civilization. There are Chinese tailors, carpen- 
ters, shoemakers, blacksmiths, jewellers, cabinet-makers, and anything 
else you might name, besides a variety of trades you couldn't think of. 
Most of them work in shops, but there are many blacksmiths, cobblers, 
and others, who go from house to house, and carry their tools in baskets. 

"The banks have Chinese clerks to keep the accounts and handle the 
money, and every European merchant in Penang has a comprador, the 
same as the merchants in Yokohama and Hong-Kong. You can hardly 
do anything in the way of buying or selling without coming in contact 




HUMMING-BIRDS. 



CHINESE MERCHANTS AND TRADESMEN. 



131 



with a Chinese, and even if you try to avoid them you cannot. In com- 
mercial matters the Chinese have full control, and the European mer- 
chants complain that their profits are very light owing to the sharp com- 
petition of their Oriental rivals. Every year the Chinese are gaining in 
business, while the Europeans are diminishing; and the gentleman who 
told us about them says it is only a question of time, and not a long time 
at that, before all the trade of Penang will be in the hands of the Chinese. 
"They are not only in Georgetown, but all over the island of Penang, 
and on the main-land. Some of them have been here for many years, and 
either brought wives from China, or married Malay ones; they have no 
intention of going back to China but will end their days in Penano-. 
The most of these old settlers are rich, and have fine houses, with mag- 
nificent gardens filled with fruits and flowers ; but there are plenty of 
poor settlers who cultivate the soil, and live in modest huts among their 
market-gardens and pepper-fields. A large part of the agriculture of the 
island, and of the neighboring province on the main-land, is in Chinese 
hands, and if all the people of the Flowery Kingdom were driven out 



m ii : 



m 




Ik 



m^r^^^r/^r 



mmmWMfmS&vTW. 



A TRAVELLING BLACKSMITH. 



132 THE BOY TEAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

of the Malay Peninsula and the adjacent islands, there wouldn't be much 
business left. Several times the Government has had trouble with them 
owing to their guilds and combinations; and on two or three occasions 
they have openly defied the laws, and refused to be bound by them. 
The garrisons of troops at Penang, Singapore, and other points are nec- 
essary to keep the Chinese in order, as no one can tell when they may 
make a serious disturbance. 

" "When we were at Manilla, we learned that the Chinese in the Phil- 
ippine Islands were not always easy to control, and had twice broken into 
open insurrection. The first time was in 1603, when 23,000 Chinese were 
slaughtered by the Spanish troops and people ; and the second was about 
fifty years later, when 25,000 were killed, and the rest, amounting to six 
or eight thousand, were banished. But others came to fill their places, 
and there have been no more insurrections, though quite often they nar- 
rowly escape them. 

" It is fair to say, on behalf of the Chinese, that their insurrections in 
the Philippine Islands were brought about by excessive taxes and relig- 
ious persecutions ; at least we are so informed by the historians who have 
written on the subject. In Penang there is no danger of trouble on this 
account, as the inhabitants have the fullest liberty in the matter of relig- 
ion, and the taxes are the same for all nationalities. 

"It was late when we got back to the steamer, and, as we were pretty 
tired, we went straight to bed. When we rose in the morning, we were 
steaming out of the harbor; and so ended our visit to Penang." 



VOYAGE FKOM PENANG TO RANGOON. 



133 



CHAPTER XL 

SHOOTING-STAKS AND THEIE CHARACTER.— A REMARKABLE VOYAGE. 

THE voyage from Penang to Rangoon was an agreeable one for our 
young friends, as the sea. was not disturbed by storms, and the tem- 
perature on deck, both night and day, was delightful. In the cabins it 
was too warm for comfort, as the iron sides of the ship absorbed a great 
deal of heat, and the arrangements for ventilation were not alble to carry 
it off. The passengers slept on deck beneath the triple awning that cov- 
ered the whole stern of the ship, and the boys had a table arranged there 




FIRST VIEW OK THE METEOR. 



where they wrote their journals, and the letters describing what they 
had seen. The evenings were devoted to conversation on whatever 
topics happened to come up, and before they reached Rangoon the 
boys had made a material addition to their already extensive stock of 
information. 

The distance from Penang to Rangoon is 1194 miles, and the steamer 
took five days to make the voyage. Consequently, the boys had all the 



134 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



time they wished for bringing their writing up to date, and getting ready 
for the new sights and sensations that awaited them in Burmah. 

On their first evening out from Penang the travellers were sitting 





EXPLOSION OF THE METEOR. 



near the stern of the steamer, and gazing out over the moonlit waters. 
The stars were bright in the sky, and the boys were designating the va- 
rious clusters and constellations, as they had learned them at school, when 
suddenly there was a flash of light about half-way from the horizon to 
the zenith, and directly in their line of vision. Then it moved across 
the heavens from right to left, with a slightly downward course, and, as 
the youths fixed their eyes upon it, there was an appearance of an ex- 
plosion, and the sky assumed its former aspect. 

"A shooting-star!" Frank exclaimed. 

" Or perhaps a meteor," Fred responded. 

"Either way you like," said the Doctor, "as both names are used for 
the phenomenon. It also has the name of 'falling-star,' as the path is 
generally downward, or apparently so." 

Frank asked what a shooting-star, meteor, or falling-star was composed 
of, and what was the reason of its appearance. 

" That is a question more easily asked than answered," the Doctor 
replied. " Scientific men in all parts of the world have devoted a great 
deal of time and attention to the subject, but they are not, as yet, satis- 
factorily informed as to the character of the meteor." 

"Don't they fall on the earth sometimes?" Fred inquired. "I have 



A TALK ABOUT METEORS. 135 

read of aerolites that came from the air to the earth, and were composed 
of solid matter. Are not these aerolites parts of shooting-stars V 

" Circumstantial evidence favors the theory that some of the aerolites 
come from falling-stars; but, at the same time, no solid matter has reach- 
ed the earth that can be directly traced to one. The amount of solid 
matter in an ordinary shooting-star is so small that it is thought to be 
consumed in its passage through the air, where its great velocity causes 
it to be heated to a very high degree ; whenever anything has fallen 
from the sky to the earth, and been found at the time of its fall, it is 
always intensely hot." 

"How far off was that meteor we just saw?" said Frank. 

"Fifty or sixty miles, I presume," the Doctor answered. "It has 
been determined that shooting-stars begin to be visible at distances vary- 
ing from forty to one hundred and twenty miles, and disappear at from 
thirty to eighty miles. During the time we saw it, it moved about ninety 
miles ; it was in sight three or four seconds, and its velocity was, there- 
fore, not far from thirty miles a second ; a pretty fast rate of travelling." 

"Ever so much faster than a cannon-ball," Fred remarked. "No 
wonder it gets heated so that it is consumed." 

" But you didn't tell us about the aerolites, and what they are made 
of," Frank protested. 

" Nor about the circumstantial evidence in favor of their coming 
from the shooting-stars," added Fred. 

"Several instances may be given," Doctor Bronson replied; "but 
the following from Professor Loomis will be sufficient to illustrate the 
theory : 

" On the morning of December 14th, 1807, a meteor of great brill- 
iancy was seen moving in the atmosphere over the town of Weston, in 
Connecticut. Its apparent diameter was about half that of the full-moon ; 
when it disappeared several persons heard a sound resembling the dis- 
charge of a cannon, followed by smaller reports like a fire of musketry. 
Soon after the explosions a man heard a sound like the falling of a heavy 
body, and upon examination he discovered that a stone had fallen upon -a 
rock near his house and was dashed into fragments, which were quite hot 
when picked up. When put together they were found to weigh about 
twenty pounds. 

" In another place, five miles away from the first one, somebody found 
a hole in the turf, and on digging down about two feet he brought up a 
stone weighing thirty-five pounds. Other stones were found in the neigh- 
borhood weighing respectively ten, thirteen, twenty, and thirty-six pounds, 



136 



THE BOY TRAVELLEKS IN THE FAR EAST. 



and at a spot several miles distant there were a dozen fragments, evidently 
broken from a mass of two hundred pounds or more, that struck a large 
rock with great force. The entire weight of all the pieces of the meteor 
found in Weston exceeded three hundred pounds, and one of the specimens,, 
weighing thirty-six pounds, is preserved in the cabinet at Yale College." 

" The proof is pretty conclusive that the fragments came from the 
shooting-star," one of the boys remarked. " Do they know how high it 
was in the sky when it blew up ?" 

"It was first seen near Albany," was the reply, "and it disappeared 
near Weston. When first seen it was about eighty miles high ; its course 

carried it toward the earth,. 



so that when it exploded 
it was only eight miles 
high. Probably the great- 
er part of the meteor fell 
into Long Island Sound 
and was lost, as the direc- 
tion in which it was going 
would take it there. 

" There have been 
some twenty or more aero- 
lites in the United States 
whose falls have been 
known at the time of 
their occurrence, besides a 
good many discoveries of 
meteoric stones. There 
was one in Ohio in I860 
that burst in the air one 
day about noon ; several 
stones were seen to fall and were secured, the largest of them weighing 
one hundred and three pounds. The surface of all the stones was covered 
with a crust, as though they had been melted. 

"Now we come to the composition of the meteoric fragments. It 
varies greatly, some of them containing ninety-six per cent, of iron, while 
others have only one per cent. ; in some there will be eighteen per cent, 
of nickel, and in others less than one per cent. There are many aerolites 
that consist of silica, lime, magnesia, and kindred substances; these are 
called meteoric stones, to distinguish them from those where iron prepon- 
derates, the latter having the name of meteoric iron. 




THE SANTA EOSA AEROLITE. 



COMPOSITION OF AEKOLITES. 



137 



"Aerolites generally contain small quantities of cobalt, tin, copper, 
and one or two other metals, in addition to the iron. The latter, when in 
large proportion, is readily malleable, and can be wrought by the black- 
smith with the utmost ease. You know that iron ore is one of the most 
abundant minerals, but metallic iron in a state of nature is exceedingly 
rare. The curious thing about these meteors is that the iron in them is 
always metallic, and not in the shape of ore. 

"I will now tell you," he continued, "about the structure of these 
masses of iron that fall from the sky. Their surfaces are more or less 
dotted and indented, and sometimes they suggest that there were large 
bubbles of air on them at the time they were cooled. One that fell near 
Lockport, in the State of New York, is honey-combed as though cavities 
had been dug in it with a chisel, and another that came from Santa Rosa, 
in New Grenada, has a less number of dimples in it, but they are deeper. 
And let me say, before I forget it, that this aerolite from Santa Rosa 
weighs 1600 pounds, and has about one cubic foot of volume ; it is con- 
sequently very dense, and is composed of nearly pure iron." 

Fred asked if that was the largest meteor ever found. 

" Not by any means," the Doctor answered. " The largest in any col- 
lection was sent from Melbourne, Australia, to the British Museum, and 




MELBOURNE AEROLITE. 



weighs 8257 pounds. The same museum has one from Otumpa, South 
America, that weighs 1400 pounds, and was detached from a mass esti- 
mated to weigh more than fifteen tons. This is the largest mass of me- 
teoric iron known to exist. 

"Meteoric iron has a highly crystalline formation, which can be found 



138 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



by polishing a surface and then heating it to whiteness. When it is 
cooled it will be found covered with curious lines and streaks that remind 
you of the frost-marks on a window-pane. An aerolite found in Texas 
was submitted to the heating process ; the streaks that were developed re- 




STRUCTURE OF THE TEXAS AEROLITE. 



mained there permanently, and the same is the case with several others. 
Ordinary iron will not exhibit these marks, but they can sometimes be 
produced in iron that has been melted out of volcanic rocks." 

" How does the iron get up in the atmosphere to form these aero- 
lites?" one of the boys inquired. 

" That is a conundrum I give up without trying," the Doctor replied. 
" Nobody has yet been able to tell us, and we must be content with the 
fact that it is there. 

"And there is a good deal of it up in the regions beyond the clouds,"' 
he continued, "if we are to judge by the number of meteors or shooting- 
stars that are seen every year. It has been estimated that more than a 
thousand meteors fall daily through the air so near the earth that they 
might be seen from one place if the clouds and the sun and moon would 
permit ; taking this as a basis, there are more than 8,000,000 of meteors 
visible every day from all over the earth. Once in a while we have me- 
teoric showers, when thousands of meteors can be seen from one point in 
an hour's time, and frequently the fall is so rapid that they cannot be 
counted. But it is a curious circumstance that in these showers no me- 
teor or its fragments have been known to strike the earth." 



A REMARKABLE VOYAGE. 139 

A good deal more was said on this subject that we have not space 
for recording, and from meteors the conversation wandered to the moon, 
and around among the stars generally, till it was bedtime. . In the latter 
part of their talk they were joined by the captain of the ship, who told 
them that the natives of the Malay peninsula and the coast of Burmah 
>have a remarkable knowledge of astronomy, so far as it relates to the 
navigation of their sailing craft. " To find our positions at sea," said he, 
"we must use elaborate instruments and take several observations, par- 
ticularly in getting our longitude ; but these natives will work up their 
longitude by observations on the stars with a simple apparatus consisting 
of a stick and a string. The string is twice as long as the stick, and is 
fastened to its ends ; there are several knots on the string and notches 
on the stick, and by holding this rude instrument in a certain position, 
and observing the relations between the knots and notches with some of 
the more prominent stars, they will get their longitude exactly. 

"It is too late now," said the captain, "or I would tell you about a 
most remarkable voyage that was made across the Bay of Bengal, a few 
years ago, by men who had no knowledge whatever of navigation. Per- 
haps we'll have it to-morrow night." 

With this remark he left them, and, as before stated, the evening ses- 
sion came to an end at the hour for retiring to sleep. 

According to promise the captain joined our friends the next even- 
ing, and told them of the feat performed by a small party of natives in 
crossing the Bay of Bengal in an open boat.* 

" There were five of them," said the captain, " and they went to sleep 
in their boat one night, so as to take an early start up the river from 
Rangoon. The boat was made from a hollowed log, and was about 
twenty-five feet long by four wide in the centre ; it had a mast with a 
small square sail, like what you generally see on the native boats in the 
East, and its sides were not more than a foot above water. This was the 
craft that safely carried five men a thousand miles across the open sea. 

" They went to sleep, as I said, and when they waked in the morn- 
ing, just at dawn, they found themselves at sea. The boat had become 
untied from the stake where it was fastened ; the strong current of the 
river, with the ebb-tide, had floated them down at a rapid rate, and be- 
fore they knew it they were out of sight of land. 



* The story here given was narrated to the author by Captain H. B. Smith, of the British 
India Steam Navigation Company's ship Madura, during a voyage up the east coast of India 
in 1878. 



140 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 




" Not one of them had ever been at sea before ; they were all from 
the upper country, and some of them had not even heard there was any 

water in the world be- 
V)hiii\ yond their own river. 

The oldest of the party 
was captain of the boat; 
he had heard something 
about ' the black water ' 
that was so salt as to poi- 
son those who drank it, 
but beyond that he had 
very little information 
concerning it. 

" He had no idea in 
what direction he should 
steer to reach land, but re- 
membered that it was nec- 
essary to keep a straight 
course to get anywhere. 
Whether to go east, west, 
north, or south, he could 
not say, and in fact he hardly knew the points of compass. He had 
no compass, or anything of the sort, and so he concluded that to steer 
properly he should keep the sun constantly on his left hand. It was 
unfortunate that he did not decide to keep the sun on the right hand, 
as he would then have brought up on the coast of Burmah, while the 
course he took was westward, across the Bay of Bengal. 

"The boat was loaded with salt belonging to an English house in 
Rangoon, and consigned to their agency up the river. The old man 
ordered the salt thrown overboard to lighten the boat; then he divided 
the provisions, giving each man his share. The sail was spread to the 
light wind that was blowing, and 

with the sun on the left the boat 1*=^ 

moved on. 

"The only provisions were a ^=-\- £^L_;;?^ 

couple of bags of rice, and with v '^ : ' ;^ 

care this could be made to last a 
month. They had very little fresh 
water, and the old man's ingenuity 
was set to work to devise means of 



RIVER-BOATS IN BUKMAH. 




ODT ON THE WATkKS. 



CONDENSING WATER IN AN OPEN BOAT. 



141 



collecting some. They had a little furnace on some earth in the middle 
of the boat where they did their cooking, and they had a bag or two of 
charcoal. Whenever they were engaged in cooking their daily allowance 
of rice, the padrone caused his companions to dip a couple of tin plates 
in the sea ; when these plates were cooled as much as the sea-water could 



vf " 




" v j 



'^£&m 



'-y^ 



A WRECK AT SEA. 



cool them, they were wiped dry and held in the steam that rose from the 
rice-kettle, and in this way a few drops of water could be obtained. As 
soon as they were heated, the water that had accumulated on the plates 
would be wiped off, and the dipping in the sea would be renewed. 
Enough water was collected in this way to prevent their dying of thirst. 



142 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

but not enough to save them from considerable suffering. Of course 
the rice contained a good deal of water which it absorbed in the process 
of cooking: the usual mode of preparing rice in the East is to steam it 
above a boiling kettle, and not to place it in the water, after the Ameri- 
can manner. Occasionally they were surrounded by flying- fish, but they 
never caught any, though they tried to do so. 

" On and on they sailed. Day after day passed with no sign of land, 
and no ship to bring them assistance. Their coals were exhausted on 
the seventeenth day ; on the next and the next they suffered terrible 
thirst, because they could no longer make use of their condenser, and the 







A FLYING-FISH. 



old chief said that if they found no relief by the twentieth day they 
would have to give up. 

" But at ten o'clock in the night of the nineteenth day the boat slid 
up on a sandy beach, and the party stepped on shore. Fortune willed 
it that they landed on the beach in front of the French town of Pondi- 
cherry ; they had seen the lights for an hour or more, but mistook them 
for stars. 

"The boat was pulled up high and dry on the beach, which was de- 
serted at that hour. One man was left to guard it, and the other four, 
with the old man leading, walked in single file through the streets of 
Pondicherry in search of assistance. 



"DOES ANY ONE SPEAK BURMESE?" 143 

u At every few steps the leader called out, ' Does any one speak Bur- 
mese V People stared at him, and some laughed, and thought him in- 
sane, but he kept on up and down the streets with his comrades, repeat- 
ing his inquiry in his own language, for he knew no other — ' Does any 
one speak Burmese V 

" For nearly an hour he continued in this way, and just as he was 
about to give up, and try some other means of making himself under- 
stood, some one who spoke Burmese stepped from the crowd and asked 
what he wanted. 

" His first inquiry was whether there was an agency of the firm to 
whom the cargo of salt belonged. Finding there was none, he named 
ether houses of Rangoon with no better luck, and at last asked for the 
British India Steam Navigation Company. 

" He went at once to the Company's agency, but it was closed for the 
night. He was there bright and early next morning, and his first re- 
quest was for a telegram to be sent to his employers at Rangoon, so that 
they would know he had not run away with the cargo of salt. He want- 
ed his character vindicated first of all, and then he asked if he and his 
comrades could be sent to Rangoon, and allowed to pay their passage on 
arrival, as they had not sufficient money to pay in advance. 

" Those who heard his story could hardly believe it, especially when 
they saw the boat in which the five men had come across the Bay of Ben- 
gal. But they were fully convinced when a despatch came from the 
house at Rangoon to send the men back, and draw for expenses. The 
firm had full faith in the honesty of the old man, as he had been a long 
time in their employ. 

" The agent of the French Steamship Company bought their boat for 
a good price, to keep as a curiosity, and gave them a free passage to Ma- 
dras; from Madras the British India Company gave them passage to Ran- 
goon, where they arrived safely, and were heroes in the eyes of all their 
neighbors and friends." 

Doctor Bronson reminded the captain that there were several in- 
stances on record of boats not over twenty feet long that had safely 
crossed the Atlantic Ocean. 

"Yes," the captain answered, "that is quite true; but bear in mind 
that the boats you speak of were specially built for the voyages they un- 
dertook ; they were well provisioned and watered, and were in the track 
of steamships, from which they could obtain fresh supplies nearly every 
day if they wanted them. The men who managed them were experi- 
enced sailors,, and were provided with instruments by which they could 



144 



THE BOY TKAVELLERS IN THE FAE EAST. 



work out their positions, and know where they were. In the case I 
speak of the boat was totally unfit for ocean navigation, the men on 
board had never looked on the sea, and knew nothing about it ; they 
had no proper supply of provisions, no instruments whatever, and even if 
they had possessed any, they were ignorant of their use. When you con- 
sider all the circumstances, I think you will agree with me that the voy- 
age of the five Burmese was the most remarkable you ever heard of." 




LANDING ON THE BEACH. 



ON THE RANGOON RIVER. 145 



CHAPTER XII. 

FIRST DAY IN BURMAH.— THE GOLDEN PAGODA. 

r T , HE first land they saw in approaching Burmah was, as Fred expressed 
-*- it, a light-house without any land visible for it to stand on. The 
light-house is on a dangerous reef of rocks more than a mile long, and 
quite covered at high-tide, and many a ship came to grief there before 
the beacon was erected. As there is no sign of land at the point where 
the light-house is first seen, the sight is a curious one. Fred and Frank 
were much interested in the spectacle, and when they first saw the tall 
structure of stone, 150 feet in height, they could hardly believe the evi- 
dence of their eyes. 

A boat headed for them, and before passing the light-house they had 
taken on board the pilot who was to show them the way to Rangoon. 
The city stands on one of the mouths of the Irrawaddy, twenty-six miles 
from the sea, and the boys were forcibly reminded of their visit to Saigon 
by the general similarity of the scenery at the mouths of the Meikong 
and the river they were now ascending. The branch on which Rangoon 
stands is known as the Rangoon River; it is nearly two miles wide at 
its mouth, but gradually narrows until it is only about a third of a mile 
across at the city itself. The banks are low and flat, and the scenery is 
monotonous ; there are many little creeks and canals branching off from 
the river, and forming quite a net-work of waters navigable for small 
boats. Rice-fields and uncultivated swamps stretch away for long dis- 
tances, and it was hardly necessary for the captain of the steamer to say 
that the region was an unhealthy one for foreigners. 

The steamer anchored among a considerable number of foreign ships, 
and as a good many of the latter were receiving cargoes from lighters 
that lay along-side, the scene was a busy one. Boats, rowed by Chinese, 
Burmese, Klings, and other Oriental laborers, were speedily at the side of 
the new arrival, and a lively bargaining began for transportation to the 
shore. A Chinese boatman offered better terms, than any one else, and 
in a short time our friends were deposited with their baggage in a lit- 



116 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



tie hotel facing the river, and in that part of Rangoon known as "The 
Strand." This is a wide street that has been well paved by the authori- 
ties, and it contains the principal foreign residences and business houses, 
together with the Government offices and other public buildings. The 







CREEK LEADING FROM THE RANGOON RIVER. 



tropical foliage is so dense in many places that comparatively few of the 
houses can be seen at once, and it is difficult for a stranger to realize that 
he is in front of a city of a hundred thousand inhabitants when his ship 
drops anchor in Rangoon River. 

Rangoon is only a century and a quarter old, having been founded in 
1755 by the Burman king, who conquered the province of Pegu, and de- 
termined to have a city near the sea; it extends about three miles along 
the river and a mile back from it, and its streets are generally at right 
angles, and well paved. There is a great difference between the foreign 
and native quarters, as in all the open seaports of the East : the forme> 



VISIT TO THE GOLDEN PAGODA. 147 

contains well-built houses of planks, with tiled roofs, while the latter con- 
sists of bamboo huts that cost only a few dollars to build, and are liable 
to be blown down in a high wind. Most of the European houses are on 
piles, to protect them from the occasional floods of the river, and to pre- 
vent the intrusion of snakes, who often drop in upon them. 

The boys were eager to see the greatest of all the sights of Rangoon 
as soon as possible, and they could hardly wait for the Doctor to com- 
plete the negotiations for their stay at the hotel. They found it very 
interesting, if we may judge from Frank's letter, which he wrote that 
evening, describing what they had seen during the day. 

After narrating their impressions of the voyage up the river, and the 
sights on the way, the youth wrote as follows : 

"We went as soon as we could to see the Shoay Dagon, or golden 
pagoda, and it is the largest thing of the kind we have yet seen; I en- 
close you a picture of the pagoda, as it would not be possible to give a 
full idea of it with words alone. In the first place, it is on a small hill, 
which makes it all the more imposing, and enables you to see it from 
a long distance, and it rises way above all the houses and other buildings 
in Rangoon. As you come up to the entrance you find some horrid- 
looking griffins, with impossible features and a very angry look; but as 
they are of brick and stone, they are not at all dangerous. They are put 
there to keep out all evil spirits, but they could not prevent the occupa- 
tion of the temple by the British soldiers when they captured the city 
in 1852. A gentleman who was here then says it was not a very solemn 
spectacle to see the soldiers smoking among the shrines, and cooking their 
dinners on the altars, while the necks of the idols were hung with cart- 
ridge-boxes, and their heads covered w T ith military caps. The Burmese 
were very angry at the desecration, but as soon as the war was over the 
temple was restored to the care of the priests, and has remained in their 
hands ever since. 

" If the griffins let you pass without trouble, you next come to some 
long passage-ways with high walls ; these walls are decorated with Bur- 
mese paintings that represent the tortures of all wicked people, accord- 
ing to the Burmese notions, and it does not need a long study to convince 
you that the artists must have had very lively imaginations. There is a 
great deal of yellow and gold in these paintings, and in the other orna- 
mentation of the walls; and certainly the gilding must have cost a large 
amount of money. 

" Then you go on till you come to a staircase very much out of re- 
pair; when you climb the staircase you come to a stone platform 1000 



148 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 




SIGHTS IN A BUEMESE TEMPLE. 149 

feet square, and in the middle of this platform, or terrace, the shoay 
dagon stands. It is an octagonal pagoda 300 feet high and 500 in diam- 
eter, and is the shape of a bell, as you will see by looking at the picture. 
It is bnilt of brick and stone, and covered with gold-leaf : the gold that 
was used for the gilding is said to have equalled the weight of the king 
who ruled at the time of its completion; but we are not told how much 
that was. It has worn off in spots by the heavy rains that fall in Bur- 
mah, but enough is left to give it a rich appearance, and justify the name 
it bears. 

"Around the base of the pagoda are some smaller pyramids of the 
general shape of the great one, and there are broad steps of stone with 
more griffins to watch over them. When you get inside the pagoda you 
find temples and statues in irregular order, as though they had been put 
there without any general plan ; some of the sitting statues are ten or 
twelve feet high, and we saw some standing ones that must have meas- 
ured eighteen feet at least. The}'' represent Buddha, or Gaudama, and 
the largest are of brick and mortar, while the smaller ones are of metal. 
All are gilded, and some very thickly, and a good many had their gar- 
ments made of bits of glass that were arranged to give a very pleasant 
effect. The general appearance of the temples and statues reminded us 
of those of Siam that we have already told you about, and the object 
is the same — the veneration of Buddha. It is proper to remark that 
the pagodas of Burmah are not actually temples, but simply the places 
where sacred relics are kept, and so the only sanctity the edifice possesses 
comes from the articles deposited there. The relics in this pagoda con- 
sist of eight hairs from the head of Gaudama, or the last Buddha, and a 
few other things of less importance. We were not permitted to see these 
relics, but only the shrines containing them. 

"I send you also a picture of the statue of Gaudama, so that you may 
see how a Burmese idol looks. It is not a fine work of art, as the fingers 
are out of proportion to the arms, and the arms to the body, while the 
nose and mouth are on a more liberal scale than the most of us would 
like to have. All these statues have a very happy and contented ex- 
pression, and some of them actually seem to smile when you look at 
them. 

" From the golden pagoda we went to a pavilion near by, where hangs 
the Great Bell of Rangoon. All three of us went inside, and there was 
room for half a dozen more ; the Doctor stretched his arms to their full 
length, and could just touch the edges of the bell with the tips of his 
fingers. The bell has no tongue or clapper, but is rung by means of a 



150 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



iff iiiiiii i ;' , iii^s^t m« ■ * ■■':,■ "^ '>.■ 4iiiii 




STATUE OF BUDDHA IN THE GOLDEN PAGODA. 



DEESS OF THE PEOPLE. 151 

beam swung against the outside. The bells of Burmah are generally 
tongueless, but the Doctor says that is not the case with the belles. 

" This great bell is said to be worth a hundred thousand dollars, as 
it contains a large amount of gold. Before it was cast the people of 
all classes crowded around to throw their offerings into the furnace 
where the metal was melted ; women gave the golden ornaments from 
their ears, and the anklets and armlets that are so highly cherished 
throughout the East ; men threw into the molten mass their golden 
scabbards, often glistening with jewels, and their costly betel-boxes ; and 
even children came with their toys of copper or baser metals, where they 
were too poor to give gold or silver. The bell has a delicious tone, and 
in this respect is said to be the finest of all the great bells of the world. 

"When the English captured Burmah, in 1824, they tried to carry 
the great bell away to England. While they w T ere loading it into the ship 
the tackle broke, and the bell fell into the river, where it lay till after the 
country was restored to the Burmese. The latter fished it out and put 
it back in its place, and since then it has not been disturbed. The na- 
tives believed that so long as the bell remained here, and gave forth its 
sounds, the country could not be conquered ; but their theories have 
been somewhat confused, as the English have had possession of this part 
of Burmah since 1852. 

" The golden pagoda and its enclosure were full of natives coming 
to their worship, or going from it, while not a few seemed to be there 
for the sole purpose of idling away the time. 

" The Burmese have some resemblance to the Siamese in features and 
stature, but their physiognomy is not the same to a close observer, and 
there is a considerable difference in the dress of the two people. The 
children wear little clothing, or none at all, and when thus costumed they 
look very much like young Siamese in similar garb. Both men and 
women wear a short jacket of white material, and coming down about to 
the hips ; the men wear a putso, which is a piece of silk or cotton cloth 
about a yard wide, wrapped around the waist, and descending to the 
knees, while the women have a similar garment that comes nearly to the 
ground. In each case this article is more or less gay in color, and the 
more red or yellow they can get into it the better are they suited. Both 
sexes wear the hair long; the women comb it straight back over the fore- 
head, while the men make a bunch of it on the top of the head, and fre- 
quently cover it with a gaudy handkerchief. 

" Both sexes wear ornaments in the ears, and large ones too. The 
ear is pierced so that it looks as though a large piece had been taken out 



152 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



of it : we are told that they puncture the ear when a child is very young, 
and gradually enlarge the opening by inserting pieces of bamboo. The 
ear is not considered properly pierced until the hole through it is at least 
half an inch in diameter; then it is useful as well as ornamental, as it will 

hold a cigar or any article 
of similar size, and a Bur- 
mese clerk finds it a con- 
venient place for carrying 
a pencil. Doctor Bronson 
says that when you send 
a messenger to carry a let- 
ter, he rolls it up and puts 
it in his ear; he might put 
it in his pocket, but then 
he is far less likely to 
have a pocket about him 
than to have his ear 
pierced. The women use 
their ears as bouquet- 
holders, and it is not un- 
usual to see one of them 
walking along the streets 
with a bunch of flowers 
in her ears that would sell 
for at least ten cents on 
Broadway in a summer 
afternoon. 

"The natives have 
their own courts and ways 
of justice, subject to the control of the English ; but the latter do not in- 
terfere with them so long as their sentences are not accompanied with 
cruelty. The British rule has been so humane, in comparison with the 
tyrannical methods of the kings of Burmah, that the people are quite 
content with the invaders, and have no desire to return to the old sys- 
tem. It is the custom of the Burmese to submit their disputes to an 
elder, whose decision is rarely opposed. We had a chance to look into 
a native court on our way back from the pagoda ; the elder was sitting 
cross-legged on a stool, and his attendants were seated or squatted near 
him — two on each side. One of them was holding an umbrella — the 
symbol of dignity and power — -and on the floor in front of the judge 




A BURMESE WOMAN. 



COURTS OF JUSTICE IN BURMAH. 



isa 



there were two large fans of palm-leaf. At certain parts of the cere- 
monials of a court these fans are taken up and waved, and, no matter 
how small the case may be, the judge displays an immense amount of 
dignity in giving his decision. 

"It is said that the Burmese judges are very corrupt, and the man 
who pays the highest price can have the kind of justice he wants. This 
is particularly the case in those parts of Burmah where the English are 
not in power, and the whole government is a system of bribery and cor- 
ruption. The officers are rarely paid, and even if they are they get very 
small salaries; a gentleman who has lived here some years, says that 
a native official in Burmah cannot make an honest living unless he 
steals it." 

While Frank was busy with his description of the golden pagoda, 
and the sights connected with it, Fred devoted his attention to a short 
account of the British in Burmah, and how they came there. Here it is : 

" The British possessions in Burmah comprise about 100,000 square 
miles of territory, with 5,000,000 inhabitants ; they include the former 
States of Tenasserim, Aracan, and Pegu, and these States are now the 
three provinces that constitute the Government of British Burmah. The 
first two have been occupied since 1821; Pegu was captured at that time, 
but afterward restored, and it remained in Burmese possession till the 
second war, in 1852. An American doctor, who was temporarily serving 




A BURMESE JUDGE AND HIS ATTENDANTS. 



154 



THE BOY TEAVELLEKS IN THE EAR EAST. 



on an English gun-boat during the second war, says that the Burmese 
were very brave in many instances, but of course they were no match 
for the artillery and other warlike apparatus of the English. 

"But it seems that not all the bravery was genuine, for when this 
doctor went through the fortifications of Rangoon, after its capture, he 
found that the Burmese general who commanded the place had chained 
his gunners to the cannon, so that they could not run away. And fur- 




BTTEMESE RIVER SCENE. 



thermore, when the battle was going on, the wives and children of the 
officers and soldiers were penned up in the trenches, and ordered to lose 
their heads if the defence was not successful. 

" Many of the cannon used in the defence of Rangoon were made of 
teak logs, hooped with iron ; some did good service, but many of them 
burst after a few rounds, in consequence of being overloaded. The Bur- 
mese were at least two hundred years behind the times in making and 
using artillery ; and they were not much better off with their war-boats, 
which were very narrow in proportion to their length, and made from 
the largest teak logs, hollowed out like the canoes of the Indians. They 
were rowed or paddled, and there were from fifty to one hundred rowers 
in each boat ; the men kept time by singing a monotonous song, which 
had the word 'hah!' at the end of each line, and every time the 'hah!' 
was uttered the paddle was dipped into the water. The boats were pro- 



THE COUNTRY UNDEE ENGLISH RULE. 15o 

pel led very swiftly by their crews, but the thin sides offered no resistance 
to the cannon of the English ships, and a single well-directed shot was 
enough to knock one of them to pieces. 

" So much about the war, which did not last long when it was fairly 
begun. After peace was arranged, the English went to work to develop 
the country as much as possible, and to show the natives they had come 
there to stay. They made roads, introduced steamboats on the rivers, 
and a few years ago they began the construction of a railway which is 
intended to run to the frontier, and some time go on to the capital of 
the kingdom of Ava, which is the part of Burmah that remains under its 
native ruler. 

" The country has been very prosperous since the English took pos- 
session of it; the population has doubled in consequence of immigration 
— some of it from China, and some from native Burmah ; and the na- 
tives seem to understand very well the advantages of living under a 
government that does not oppress them. The principal product of the 
country is rice, and it is exported to England and other countries ; Ran- 
goon rice is not unknown in America, and sometimes there have been 
half a dozen ships loading at one time in this port for the United States. 
About 2,000,000 acres of land are devoted to the cultivation of rice, and 
a few hundred acres to indigo, tea, and mulberries. There are very few 
manufactures; with the exception of a small quantity of silks that are 
woven at Prome, and some lacquered ware, the country does not make 
much that the rest of the world cares for. 

"Perhaps this information will be found a little dry to some of the 
boys at home, but if it is they can skip it. There's a good deal more I 
could say, but the hour is late and we must rest ourselves for to-morrow." 




^ W5Sm ^^^S^ 1 ^H ia^n" 



NATIVE FORT CAPTURED BY BRITISH TROOPS. 



156 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

A VOYAGE UP THE IRRAWADDY. 

WHILE the boys were busy with what we have just read, the Doc- 
tor was endeavoring to arrange a journey into the interior, and, if 
possible, to enable his young friends to see the King of Ava and his cap- 
ital city. But a serious difficulty arose, and rendered a visit to the capital 
impossible. 

The old King of Burmah had died a short time before ; his successor, 
King Theebaw, was unfriendly to foreigners, and apparently to every- 
body else, and there was a good prospect of another Burmese war. Thee- 
baw had imprisoned some of the European residents of Mandalay, the 
capital, but afterward released them through fear of trouble with the 
British authorities. The English had withdrawn their official represen- 
tative at Mandalay, and the steamers ceased to run from Rangoon to the 
capital; an insurrection had broken out among the Burmese, the exact 
extent of which was not known ; small pox had appeared in the pal- 
ace, the king's brother and uncle having died of it, while the king him- 
self was supposed to have been attacked with the disease. The astrolo- 
gers at the royal court were endeavoring to ward off the effects of the 
evil spirits, and ordered sacrifices to appease them. Hundreds of young 
girls were seized in the streets of Mandalay, and sacrificed in obedience 
to this order, and all who could leave the city were doing so. It was 
dangerous to go to Mandala} r , and besides .there was no way of getting 
there, since communication was cut off by the stoppage of the steam- 
boats. 

The next day news was received that the king had arrested about 
fifty of his relatives, and intended to put them to death, so as to pre- 
vent any intrigues for his place on the throne. They were kept in 
prison for a while, where they were treated with great cruelty, and final- 
ly murdered. 

Of course the trip to Mandalay was abandoned at once ; but as the 
Steamers were still running to Thayetmyo, which is in British territory, 



UP THE 1RKAWADDY. 



157 



and near the frontier, it was determined to go there. Passage was taken 
on a steamer leaving the following day, and at the hour appointed for 
departure our friends were on board. 

The steamboat did not ascend the Rangoon River to the Irrawaddy, 
hut passed through a channel known as Bassein Creek, which shortened 
the distance, and gave a better depth of water than the river. It was 
not till the day after leaving Rangoon that they entered the great river 
of Burmah, the Irrawaddy, which is about 1500 miles long, and is said 
to be the fourth in the world in the volume of water brought down 
by its current. In tiie latter part of its course it is nearly four miles 
wide, and at Bhamo, 1000 miles from the sea, it is not less than a mile 




NATIVE BOAT ON THE IRRAWADDY. 



from one bank to the other. It rises in the Himalaya Mountains, east 
of Thibet, and has a course that is generally southerly, though in one 
place it makes a large bend like the letter S, and in another it turns 
sharply from the south to the west. It is navigable for more than 1000 
miles for boats drawing not over three feet of water, and it is open for 
the entire year. 

The river is subject to great floods, and in the months of May and 
June the water is frequently forty feet above the lowest stage. In the 
dry season the channel is crooked and the current very rapid, but when 
the river is up the pilots pay little attention to the channel, but steer 
straight on, pretty much as they like. 



158 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



The boys were much interested in the novel sights of the great 
river; they endeavored to keep an account of the number of native 
boats, but finally gave up the effort, as the craft were too numerous to 




NATIVE HOUSE NEAR THE RIVER. 



be counted, and allow time for seeing anything else. The boats were 
of all sizes and kinds ; they were generally built of teak, the best tim- 
ber in the world for ships, and they rose high out of water at both bow 
and stern. They were generally roofed over in the centre and at the 
stern, and sometimes there were two or three roofs of different heights. 
The steersman was elevated under a canopy over the stern, and at a little 
distance he resembled an idol in a shrine. 

Many of the boats had tall masts for carrying a single square sail, 



UPSETTING A FLEET OF WAR-BOATS. 159 

such as the Chinese use, and of course they were not able to sail much 
into the wind. The captain told the boys that he had seen boats on 
the river with yards more than 100 feet long, and that 120 pulleys were 
needed to handle the sails properly. The larger boats had upper and 
studding sails, but all the rest had only the square sail. 

Several times the "wash" or "back water" from the steamboat over- 
turned the little row-boats that ventured too near. These boats were 
hewn from a single log, like the " dugouts " of the United States, and 
were very easy to upset when not skilfully managed. The occupants 
did not seem' to care much for being spilled out, as they immediately 
turned their boats right side up, baled them out with their hands, and 
then sprung in and laughed, as though it was a good joke. When the 
boys called attention to the first of these overturns, the captain of the 
steamboat told them of a wholesale upsetting he witnessed at the time 
of the second Burmese war. 

"It was in front of Rangoon," said he, "and before we had actually 
begun to fight. The Governor of Rangoon was sending hostile messages, 
and we were sending equally hostile ones back, but not a shot had been 
fired. 

" One morning the governor thought he would astonish us with a 
show of his force, and sent out a flotilla of thirty war-boats : they had 
all the way from twenty to fifty rowers in each boat, and it was* really a 
beautiful sight. On they came with flags flying, gongs beating, trumpets 
sounding, and swords and 

muskets flashing in the = ^ = .^aaa ^ 1S: ^ 

sun: they dashed through r#" ?-/ 

the water at a rapid rate, ' / 

and if the governor was -M^^^ j jjT j =L 

looking on from the 
shore, he must have been 
pleased at the display. 

" Just as they were 
making their finest ap- 
pearance, an English 
steamer with despatches malay "sampan" or iuver-boat. 

from Calcutta came up 

the river at full speed against the strong current. The Burmese were 
not accustomed to this sort of thing, and evidently knew nothing about 
the heavy swell that a big paddle-steamer makes. It caught the flotilla 
broadside on, between the ship and shore, and capsized every boat in it ; 






160 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

the men saved themselves by swimming, bnt the whole lot of flags, gongs, 
muskets, swords, and other paraphernalia of Burmese war went to the 
bottom of the river. We laughed heartily at the ludicrous incident, 
which should have taught the Burmese that their war-boats are no match 
for an English steamer, even before she fires a gun." 

The scenery of the river was not much unlike that of the Yangtse in 
China, except that it was more tropical, and the foliage and verdure gen- 
erally were more luxuriant. Wherever there was a forest the trees were 
large, and overspread with climbing plants and orchids ; then for long dis- 
tances the banks were covered with tall grass that would conceal an ele- 
phant walking through it, and for this reason it was called "elephant 
grass" by the officers of the steamboat. Villages of bamboo were reason- 
ably abundant, some of them large and compactly built, while others were 
small and straggling. There were plantations of bananas and other tropi- 
cal fruits, and sometimes they were so large and luxurious as to make a 
ready explanation of the very low price of these products of the soil in 
Burmah. If a man does not become weary of the monotony, he can get 
along very cheaply in this country by living on bananas alone. 

The steamer made short stoppages at several villages, and finally 
rested for an hour or more at a place called Myanaong. This gave Doc- 
tor Bronson and the boys an opportunity to go on shore to see what the 
town contained. 

There were crowds of natives in gaudy costumes, and nobody seemed 
to be actively employed. One man who spoke a little English offered to 
conduct the party around the place, and his offer was readily accepted. 
He led the way to a temple or pagoda with a curious arrangement of 
terraces and peaked roofs that can only be described by a picture. There 
was a good deal of gilding and yellow paint in the ornamentation of the 
building, and on the corners of the terraces there were staffs or poles 
with bells that jingled in the wind. As before stated, the large bells in 
Burmah have no tongues, and are rung by sticks of timber swung against 
them, but the small ones that hang on the roofs of the temples are better 
off. When the breeze is blowing they keep up a perpetual tinkle by no 
means unpleasant. 

The entrance was up a marble staircase at one corner of the lowest 
terrace, and there was a similar stair at the opposite corner. Each of the 
entrances was guarded by fierce griffins, like those already described at 
Rangoon, and the carving was by no means of an ordinary character. 
The wood-carving on the ornamental parts of the building was generally 
well done, and the boys spent some time in examining the various de- 



A BURMESE IMAGE-HOUSE. 



161 




162 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

signs. They climbed to the top of the edifice and looked down on the 
roofs of the lower buildings that surrounded it ; some of these were the 
residences of the priests that had charge of the temple, and others were 
intended as lodging-houses for strangers who came there to worship, and 
intended to spend several days in the place. The priests were in yellow 
robes, like those of Bangkok, and their general appearance was much the 
same. The architecture of the temples, and certain parts of the worship 
of the Burmese, have no resemblance to the Siamese forms, but the prin- 
ciples of the religions are identical. Buddha is the divinity in the one 
country as in the other. 

The steam-whistle called our friends back to the boat, and in a little 
while they were heading up the river once more. As they turned a bend 
above Myanaong, the captain pointed to a plain that stretched away for 
several miles along the bank of the river, and was backed by a dense 
forest. 

" On that plain," said the captain, " I saw a fine example of the supe- 
riority of the European mode of warfare over that of these sleepy Orien- 
tals. I have already told you how we overset a fleet of their war-boats 
without endeavoring to do so, and now I'll tell how we dispersed an army 
of several thousand men in about five minutes :* 

" The steamer that I was on during the second Burmese war was or- 
dered to come up the river to prevent any re-enforcements going to the 
Burmese in Rangoon before we assaulted the place. Just before reach- 
ing this point we heard the sound of gongs and trumpets ; it grew louder 
and louder, and we slowed our engines and crept gently along. Soon 
we discovered a great flashing and sparkling all over the plain, and from 
the mast-head we made out that an army was marching to the relief of 
Rangoon. 

" Three ' woons,' or governors of as many districts, were leading the 
army, and it was a gorgeous array of elephants, horses, wagons, gongs, 
flags, trumpets, brass trappings, and all 'the pomp and circumstance of 
glorious war.' The three woons were on as many elephants in the front 
rank, seated on gilded howdahs, and shaded by gold umbrellas. Their 
servants knelt behind them with fans and betel-boxes, and the driver on 
each elephant's neck was flourishing his wand as though proud of the 
honor of directing the stately beast who carried a woon. Then came five 
elephants drawn out in a line, and laden with servants and baggage, and 



* For these two incidents the writer is indebted to the author of " Up and Down the Irra- 
waddy." 



STAMPEDING AN ARMY. 163 

then twelve elephants bearing the sons and nephews of the woons, to- 
gether with the staff- officers. Next came the horsemen, three or four 
hundred strong, and behind them the beaters of gongs and cymbals, with 
the blowers of trumpets; then followed the infantry, and then the wag- 
ons and the camp-followers, making a long, irregular column that stretch- 
ed far away to the forest. 

" It was a grand spectacle, and it seemed a pity to interfere with it, 
but in war we cannot give way to sentiment. They did not see the 
steamer, and were evidently not aware of her presence ; the first intima- 
tion of it was given by our gunners, who dropped a couple of shells right 
in the midst of the elephants, and followed them with two or three more. 
Then the steam-whistle was blown, and a rocket was sent flying over the 
heads of the woons. 

"The whole scene was changed in an instant. Half a dozen elephants 
stumbled and fell, and the air was full of golden umbrellas, white cloths, 
yellow arms and legs, and gilded howdahs that fell with a crash. The 
rest of the elephants turned and dashed through the multitude, dropping 
their burdens as they ran, or brushing them off against the trees when 
they reached the edge of the forest ; the horses took fright and scattered 
in all directions, some with riders and others with empty saddles ; the 
ox-wagons were overturned, and as for the people on foot, they emulated 
the horses in the matter of rapid travelling. All that grand army was 
scattered in less time than I have taken to tell about it." 

" That was what you call ' a stampede,' was it not ?" said one of the 
boys. 

" Exactly so," was the reply. " The army was stampeded by the 
shells that came so unexpectedly and frightened the animals, and when 
they began to run the men on foot naturally followed their example. 
The elephant is a timid beast in many things, and so is the horse, and 
when they take fright nothing can stop them. The elephant was em- 
ployed in war before the invention of gunpowder, but since that explo- 
sive came into general use he has ceased to be of any value on the battle- 
field. The Burmese are not cowards, but their animals are, and proba- 
bly the lesson of that and other occasions has taught them to leave the 
elephant behind when going to battle. The lesson was quite as pointed 
as the one of overturning their war-boats by the swell of a steamer, and 
you can be sure it has not been, forgotten." 

The scenery began to change as they passed the locality of this one- 
sided battle ; the flat banks disappeared in many places, and low hills 
came into view, and by-and-by the low hills changed to higher ones. 



164 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



Most of the hills were wooded, and the low ground, wherever it occurred, 
was covered with rice or banana fields, or perhaps with custard-apple and 
mango trees. Occasionally they passed heaps of firewood that had been 
piled on the banks for the use of the steamers, exactly as it is piled on 
the banks of the Mississippi, and whenever they stopped to take in fuel 
the process of " wooding up " reminded the Doctor very forcibly of the 
same operation on the great river of North America. 

Among the odd craft they met was one that had a monkey and a 




A COMPOSITE CREW. 



parrot as part of the crew ; the parrot was seated on the top of the mast, 
while the monkey amused himself by climbing over the sail and display- 
ing a good deal of general activity. Evidently he desired to drive the 
parrot from her perch, but had a wholesome respect for her sharp and 
powerful beak. 

Where the hills came down to the edge of the river there was now 
and then a water-fall glistening among the foliage, and dashing its white 
spray over the rocks. The most of these cascades were small, and the 
boys observed that all the larger tributaries of the Irrawaddy joined the 
great stream through level plains. 

At one of their halting-places a native boat lay close to them, and 
the odor that rose from it was not altogether agreeable to the nostrils of 
the strangers. Frank inquired the cause of the disagreeable smell, and 



MEETING A FELLOW-COUNTRYMAN. 



165 



was told that the crew was probably at dinner, and regaling itself on 
nagapee. 

Naturally he wished to know what nagapee was. 

" It is a condiment that they mix with rice to render it more pala- 
table," the Doctor answered, " and is a great favorite with the Bur- 
mese. It is made by mixing finely-chopped fish with certain spices, and 
other flavoring things, till it is in the form of a paste. The fish is first 
allowed to get a little old, or 'gamy,' and before they chop it up the 
smell from it is anything but agreeable to a European. The flavor in- 
creases with age, and the older it gets the more do the Burmese like it." 

Frank and Fred concluded they would take their rice without naga- 
pee for the future. The perfume that rose from the boat was all they 
wanted. 

They stopped several hours at Prome, a large town that was said to 
contain some handsome pagodas and a Buddhist monastery, and was fa- 
mous for its silk manufactories. One of the first persons our friends met 
on shore was a man whose accent was so decidedly American that Doc- 




*3P 



Cii^.^/^*'-^^. ' 




AN EASTERN WATER- FALL. 



tor Bronson at once asked from what part of the United States he had 
come. He proved to be a native of Massachusetts, and w r as settled in 
Bnrmah as a missionary : he invited the strangers to visit his house, but, 
as their time was limited, they were unable to do so. 



166 



THE BOY TEAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 




AMERICAN MISSIONARIES IN BURMAH. 167 

This incident naturally led to a conversation concerning the Ameri- 
can missions in Bnrmah, as soon as our friends were again on board the 
steamer, and moving up the Irrawaddy. 

" Since the early part of this century," said the Doctor, " the Amer« 
ican Board of Foreign Missions has been represented in Bnrmah ; their 
stations are scattered throughout the country, and the labors of the mis- 
sionaries have been attended with a great deal of hardship. Of late 
years they have fared better than they did when they first came here, 
as the authorities are less suspicious of them than formerly, and the 
comforts of life are more easily obtained. In the early days, and es- 
pecially in the time of the first Burmese war, they were frequently ar- 
rested and thrown into prison : one of them, whose name is well known 
in the United States, was kept in chains for more than a year, and for 
a large part of that time he was under sentence of death." 

One of the boys asked who this missionary was. 

"He was Doctor Judson — Adoniram Judson," was the answer; "he 
came to Bnrmah in 1812, and died in 1850. He was two or three times 
in America between those years, and he died on a voyage from Rangoon 
to the Isle of France, where he was going on account of his health. He 
did a great deal for the advancement of the Burmese; he learned the 
language, and prepared a Burmese - English dictionary, together with a 
good many translations. The dictionary he made is the one now in 
use, though it has been considerably increased by other scholars. 

"His imprisonment and sentence to death was owing to the suspicion 
that he was in secret correspondence with the English, who were then 
at war with Burmah. He and his wife were living at Ava, which was 
then the capital. At the time the war began, when the news came of the 
fall of Rangoon, the king was very angry, and ordered the arrest of three 
Englishmen residing there, and also of Mr. Judson. The prisoners were 
bound with cords, and then led away; on reaching the prison they were 
loaded with chains, and all four were fastened to a bamboo pole, so that 
if any one moved in the least degree he was sure to rouse his companions. 

"Mrs. Judson was arrested at the same time, and ordered to remain 
a prisoner in her own house. Here she was kept for several days, and 
she obtained her release by making a present to the governor of the city ; 
then she set about obtaining the liberty of her husband and the other 
prisoners; but all that she could accomplish was to secure a modifica- 
tion of the severity of their treatment. As often as she was allowed she 
went to the prison, but she was generally stopped at the door, and could 
only talk with her husband with an armed guard standing between them. 



168 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE EAR EAST. 




DEATH OF MRS. JUDSON. 



169 



During the time of his captivity she wore the Burmese dress, so as to 
attract as little attention as possible when going about the streets. 

" This imprisonment lasted nearly seven months, and then suddenly 
one day the prisoners were removed to a village several miles back from 
the river, and consigned to the ' death -prison.' They expected to be 
burnt to death, but for some reason the king hesitated to give the order, 
probably through fear that the British might make severe retaliation. 
Here they were kept six months, till the English succeeded in bringing 
the war to a close, and humiliating the king. All the prisoners were 
released; but the most of them died not long after, in consequence of 
their sufferings. Mrs. Judson had remained as close as possible to her 
husband during his captivity, and only lived about a year after his re- 
lease. She died at Moulmein, during his absence at the capital to as- 
sist the British Commissioners in arranging a treaty with the king." 




MRS .TUnSON TEACHING A CLASS OF NATIVE CONVERTS. 
11* 



170 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

UP THE IRRAWADDY.— MANDALAY.— AUDIENCE WITH THE KING OF 

BURMAH. 

FROM Prome to Thayetmyo the voyage was without any incident of 
importance. Our friends had made the acquaintance of two or. three 
English officers who were on their way to the military post at Thayet- 
myo, and just before reaching the landing the three Americans were in- 
vited to visit the barracks or cantonment. The invitation was accepted 
without hesitation. 

The cantonment is on the frontier, between the native Burmah, or 





,1«&' . 






BARRACKS ON THE FRONTIER. 



Ava, and the British possessions, or rather it is on British soil very close 
to the line. On the other side there is a station for Burmese troops, but 
for more than half the time it is unoccupied, and when troops are sta- 
tioned there they have no intercourse whatever with the English, through 
fear of losing their heads. The British barracks consist of substantial 
wooden buildings, and there are shaded walks and drives all around them, 
and numerous little gardens which are maintained by the soldiers. 



THE BURMESE COURT. 171 

There was nothing of any special interest in Thayetmyo, as it is only 
a small village, and derives its importance from being a frontier post ; 
consequently the boys were qnite ready to return to the steamer, which 
was announced to start down the river early in the morning, or as soon 
as it had landed the cargo it brought tip and taken in a new one. The 
work of discharging and receiving cargo was kept up during the night, 
and a little after daybreak the strangers were travelling once more in the 
direction of Rangoon. 

They were consoled for their failure to go to Mandalay by making 
the acquaintance of a fellow-passenger who told them a great deal about 
the capital of Ava and its king, or rather about its former ruler. King 
Mounglon, as he had not been there since the throne fell to Theebaw. 
This gentleman, Captain Blakeley, had lived at Mandalay in the official 
service of the British Government, and was on fairly pleasant relations 
with Mounglon ; he went frequently into the royal presence, and had 
been consulted at various times on matters of importance to the Burmese 
Government. 

While he was telling the Americans about the Burmese court and 
other things of interest, Frank and Fred made sure of their memories by 
taking notes of the conversation : in the latter part of the voyage they 
wrote out in full what they had briefly set down, and then read the mat- 
ter over to their polite instructor. He complimented them on the accu- 
racy of their report, and said he could not have done better than they in 
putting his own words on paper. 

Here is the report, which is supposed to be in the words of Captain 
Blakeley :'* 

"You must know, to begin with, that the Kingdom of Ava, or Bur- 
mah, changes its capital very often. Five hundred years ago the city of 
Ava was made the capital, and it remained so for nearly three centuries. 
Monchobo was the capital from 1740 to 1782, and then the seat of gov- 
ernment was taken to Amarapoora, where it remained till 1819, when it 
went back to Ava. Twenty years later Ava was destroyed by an earth- 
quake, when the court moved to Monchobo, later to Amarapoora, again 
to Ava, and last (in 1857) to Mandalay. These cities are only a few miles 
from each other, and whenever the capital is changed the inhabitants of 
the old city are mostly taken along to start the new one. In 1855 the 
site where Mandalay stands was a series of rice -fields; now a city of 



* Abridged from "The Land of the White Elephant," by Frank Vincent, Jr., published by 
Harper & Brothers. 



172 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 




1 - 

m - 



n l Tin 1 ], 



F 







MANDALAY AND ITS SUBURBS. 



173 



100,000 inhabitants covers the ground, and is enclosed by substantial 
walls of brick and mud. 

"Yon can't see much of Mandalay as you approach it by steamer, as 
it lies on a level plain, and the houses near the river are not the best that 
the city contains. You will be reminded of Rangoon, or Bangkok, as 
the spires of the temples and pagodas are thickly surrounded by foliage, 
and it is only when you have climbed to the top of a temple, and looked 








ISmk 




BOAT DRAWN BY A BULLOCK. 



down from that elevation, that you begin to have an idea of the extent of 
the city. In the rainy season a great part of the plain around Mandalay 
is flooded, and then the natives go about in canoes and on rafts. Some- 
times you see them in boats drawn by bullocks or buffaloes ; the unhappy 
animals are forced to wade where the water is a foot or two in depth, and 



174: THE BOY TEAVELLEES IN THE FAE EAST. 

where there is a scarcity of harness they drag the craft behind them by 
means of ropes tied to their tails. 

" In the city itself most of the houses are on posts or piles, to avoid 
the effects of the inundations; the best of them are two stories high and 
of brick or framed timber; but there is a large number of only one story, 
and this is invariably the case with the smaller dwellings of the natives, 
which are constructed of bamboo. These houses burn easily, and some- 
times they have fires that cause immense destruction, and devastate acres 
and acres of ground. The only consolation after such a tire is that the 
houses are not costly, and the sufferers can easily be lodged again. 

" The population of Mandalay is principally Burmese, as might be ex- 
pected ; but there are great numbers ,of Chinese living there, and most 
of the commerce of the place is in their hands. Then there are many 
Malays, and people from other parts of Asia ; as for the Europeans, there 
are not more than twenty or thirty, and they include a few men engaged 
in trade, two or three missionaries, and the English resident and his offi- 
cial assistants. At present there is not a single European in Mandalay, 
as you are already aware, on account of the danger of war with King 
Theebaw. 

" The city and its suburbs cover several miles of ground, but the city 
itself is a mile square, with high walls enclosing the four sides, and each 
wall pierced with three gates. Outside the wall there is a deep ditch that 
is kept constantly filled with water, and evidently it is the intention of 
the king not to be taken by surprise by having his ditch empty. The 
soldiers of the king are stationed at all these gates to preserve order, and 
see that no hostile force enters the sacred precincts, but they would be a 
poor match for European troops. Their uniform is a combination of the 
English and Burmese dress ; they are almost always barefooted, and their 
guns are a mixed lot from all parts of the world, and generally of very 
old pattern. Some of them carry heavy swords that resemble butchers' 
cleavers, and others are armed with swords and lances. 

" The king has a great many, titles, and some of them have a comical 
sound in Western ears. Here is a fair sample of them : 

"His Golden -footed Majesty, Ruler of the Sea and Land, Lord of 
the Celestial Elephant and Master of many White Elephants, Owner of 
the Shekyah, or Indra's Weapon, Lord of the Earth and Air, Lord of the 
Power of Life and Death, and Great Chief of Righteousness. 

" It is no wonder that he considers himself of great importance when 
he has all these titles applied to him, and many more besides. Some of 
them sound like burlesque, particularly the one that calls him ruler of 



THE GOVERNMENT OF BUKMAH. 175 

the sea and land; he has no seaport of any kind whatever, and all his 
commerce with foreign countries must descend the Irrawaddy through 
British territory, or be carried overland to China. 

"The government is a despotism of the most emphatic sort; the king 
has the power of life and death over all his subjects, and may order any 
one beheaded without the slightest reason, and at a moment's notice, It 
is said that in old times, whenever the court ceremonies were going on, 
if any person made the least mistake, even so much as taking a short 
step when he should have taken a long one, or vice versa, the king com- 
manded him to be beheaded, and he was taken outside the building 
and decapitated instantly. They are not so bad as that in these latter 
■days, though King Theebaw seems to be coming quite near the ancient 
mark. 

" The form of government is about the worst that could be imagined ; 
the king takes the revenue, or so much of it as reaches him, and spends 
it in any way he pleases, and when his pocket gets empty he makes a 
fresh collection. Some of the districts up the river are subject to fre- 
quent levies ; the inhabitants have several times refused to pay, but it 
seems that they are dependent upon the lower country for their sup- 
ply of salt, and whenever their taxes do not come promptly, the king 
prohibits the exportation of salt to them. This is sure to bring them to 
terms ; but it is now rumored that they have found a mountain of salt 
there, and if so, they will be likely to declare themselves independent. 

"My first interview with the king was a more ceremonious affair than 
subsequent ones, and there were many novel features connected with it. 
The audience was appointed for ten o'clock in the forenoon, and I was 
there promptly with my introducer ; when we got to the palace we were 
told that we must wait till eleven o'clock, as his majesty was just then 
occupied with the royal astrologer, who had made some important dis- 
coveries in the positions of the stars. There was no help for it, and we 
waited ; but in the mean time we had interviews with some of the min- 
isters, and other persons attached to the court, so that the period of wait- 
ing was not altogether lost. 

" Most of the ministers do .not receive any salaries, but are supported 
by bribes and extortions. They try all cases that are appealed to them, 
and take ten per cent, of the amount involved as their compensation ; it 
often happens that they take the whole money, and the winner of the 
case is told that he must be satisfied with the honor of defeating his ad- 
versary. The king pays his troops and officers in goods that he buys of 
the merchants, and if they wish to convert them into cash, they must sell 



176 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

at half price, or even less. In fact, the whole government is a system 
of bribery and corruption, and the wonder is that it lias kept up so long. 

" The king rarely goes out of his palace, as he is constantly fearful 
that some ambitious relative will endeavor to supplant him if he leaves 
home even for a single hour. The royal palace covers about seventy 
acres of ground, and is surrounded by two walls, the inner wall being 
thirty feet from the outer one. The palace is a gaudy sort of building, 
with a great deal of carved wood-work around the eaves of its many roofs 
and stories, and having poles for bells and flags at every corner and an- 
gle. It looks better at a little distance than when close at hand, as it is 
not always kept in good repair ; and since the king stays inside the most 
of the time, he can hardly be expected to know enough about the roofs 
and outer walls to give the proper orders concerning them. The gates 
of the palace are very strong, and made of beams of teak fastened to- 
gether with iron bolts. They could not offer much resistance to artil- 
lery, or even to a keg of powder exploded against them, but could hold 
out for some time against anything that an ordinary force of Burmese 
could bring forward.. 

"Everybody who goes to be presented to the king must carry a gift 
of some kind, as this is the custom of the country. I was aware of the 
custom, and so came provided with a handsome travelling-clock, by one 
of the best makers in Paris ; the prime-minister looked it over carefully 
to see that no dangerous explosive was contained in the clock, and then 
said it was quite appropriate to the occasion. When the time came for 
the audience, the minister led the way to a stone staircase, and motioned 
for us to leave our shoes, which we did. Then we ascended the staircase, 
and were admitted to the reception-room, and shown to our places. A 
few paintings adorned the walls, and at one end there was a green curtain 
with an opening about ten feet square; through this opening we could see 
a stage about a yard in height, and there were steps leading from the 
floor of the room to the stage. At the top of these steps there was a 
velvet cushion, on which a handsome opera-glass was lying, and I readily 
guessed that this was the station of the king during the audience. The 
party for the audience consisted of eight or ten persons; two or three 
princes of the royal family were on the right, facing the cushion; then 
came the prime -minister, then myself, and next to me my introducer; 
then two missionaries and a couple of merchants, if I remember correctly. 
Behind us were some Burmese officials, who had been recently appointed, 
and had come to thank the king, and make him the customary presents 
in token of their recognition. 



THE KING'S PALACE. 



177 







178 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 




COPY OF AN OLD BUUMKSE PAINTING. 



" In front of eacli person there was a little stool or bench, which held 
the present he had brought ; the master of ceremonies arranged us and 
our presents in the proper order, and we were specially cautioned to keep 
our feet behind us, as it is very improper to allow a royal personage to 
see the soles of yonr feet under any circumstance. The Europeans were 
seated on the floor in a half-kneeling attitude, while all the natives were 
prostrate, with their faces within an inch of the floor, and their feet as 
far aft as it was possible to get them. They kept their eyes turned 
downward, and I very much doubt if any of them saw enough of the 
king to say how he looked, and what he did. 

" The king — remember, I am speaking of Mounglon and not of the 
present ruler, Theebaw — came forward at the sound of a couple of blows 
on a drum, and laid himself down against the cushion with one side of 
his body toward the audience. Then he picked up the opera-glasses and 
deliberately surveyed the entire party one after another, though we were 
not more than twenty feet away from him. I suspect that the glasses 
were something new, and he was desirous _of using them as much as pos- 
sible, since he did not appear to be near-sighted. When he had finish- 
ed his inspection he waved the glass to indicate that the performance 
might go on, and on it went. The king's secretary read the names and 
occupations of the various persons to be presented, together with a list 
of the presents they had brought. 



AUDIENCE WITH THE KING OF BURMAH. 179 

" Then the business of each person was stated ; those who had peti- 
tions to present handed them forward, and they were referred to the 
proper minister ; newly - appointed officers, who had brought baskets of 
fruit, were very quickly disposed of, and then the king talked with me, 
through an interpreter, concerning England and its customs. He hoped 
I would enjoy my stay in Mandalay, and said he had found the English 
very pleasant people, and most agreeable neighbors. The last remark 
was more polite than truthful, as he could hardly be expected to regard 
with favor the foreigners who have possessed themselves of two-thirds 
of ancient Burmah, and may fairly be suspected of wanting to capture 
the rest. 

" The audience lasted about half an hour, and was brought to an end 
by the king suddenly rising and going out of the room. One of the 
queens had been standing behind the screen, and fanning his majesty 
with a long-handled fan made of peacock's feathers. As soon as her lord 
and master walked away, she satisfied her curiosity by seeing what kind 
of beings the strangers were. She came to the opening in the screen, and 
as she stood there we had a full and fair view of her. Perhaps it was 
due to the fact that she was very pretty that she thus allowed us to see 
her, but of this I cannot be at all certain. At any rate she was exceed- 
ingly handsome, and I was told that the other three queens were as good- 
looking as herself. The king has something more than a hundred wives, 
but only four of them hold the rank of queens. 

"We rose as soon as the audience was ended, and went down the steps 
where we had left our shoes. When we were all re-shod, I went with my 
introducer to see the famous white elephant, which was standing in a sta- 
ble not far away. He was not particularly white — in fact, his name was 
the whitest part of him. His ears were slightly spotted, and so were the 
front and top of his head, while the rest of him was about the complex- 
ion of the ordinary elephants. He had a gorgeous lodging all to himself, 
but he was said to be of a bad temper, and, in spite of his noble charac- 
ter, he was chained to a post as any ordinary beast might be. I fancy he 
would have made things very lively if he had been divested of his chains 
and allowed to walk around freely. 

" Burmah shares with Siam the honor of being one of the lands of the 
white elephant, and some of the wars between the two countries have 
grown out of disputes relative to the possession of these coveted beasts. 
They are held in great esteem, partly on account of their being the habi- 
tations of Buddha in his numerous transmigrations, and partly because 
their possession is held to be synonymous w T ith good-luck both in peace 



180 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS JN THE FAR EAST. 



tbf mi 

•■:.. .-'./ :". ■-:■■■ ■.„■:■ .,.■-.■ 



ii§~ 




SCENES ON THE IREAWADDY. 181 

and war. When a white elephant dies he is buried with royal honors, 
and the whole nation goes into mourning.* 

" So much for Mandalaj and the King of Burmah. It is a pity you 
cannot go up to the city, and also to Bhamo, three hundred miles farther, 
where steamboats can run nearly all the year. Between Mandalay and 
Bhamo the scenery is more interesting than on the lower part of the Irra- 
wadcly ; in many places the mountains come close down to the river, and 
just before you reach Bhamo there is a narrow gorge where the river 
flows for a dozen miles or more between steep mountains several hundred 
feet high. Some of the cliffs are nearly perpendicular, and the river is 
penned in so closely that the current is very swift; one mountain, nearly 
a thousand feet high, is called ' Monkey Castle,' on account of the great 
numbers of monkeys that are frequently seen around it, and there is an- 
other where thousands of screeching parrots make the air resound with 
their unmelodions calls. 

"On an island some distance above Mandalay there is a Buddhist 
monastery, where the monks keep some large fish in a tank, and have 
made them so tame that they come when called to be fed, and will allow 
their keepers to stroke their backs. They belong to the dog-fish family, 
and their mouths are capacious enough to take in anything that their 
stomachs will hold. 

"'Bhamo used to be an important place of trade, as it is quite near the 
borders of Yunnan, the frontier province of China. For the last fifteen 
or twenty years there has been a rebellion in this part of China, and the 
trade has greatly diminished; the Chinese Government does not appear 
able to suppress the rebellion, and as long as it lasts there will be very 
little trade with Bhamo. The importations from China consist of tea, 
silks, cotton cloths, and earthen-ware, and the goods for which these arti- 
cles are exchanged are mostly of European manufacture; and, by-the- 
way, let me say that the chief use the Burmese make of tea is to form a 
salad of it, and not to drink it in a decoction as most other nations do." 

This was the end of the conversation about the part of Burmah that 
our friends were unable to visit. By the time the account had been writ- 
ten out, and received a few verbal corrections, the tower of the Shoay 
Dagon, or Golden Pagoda of Rangoon, was in sight, and the voyage up 
and down the Irrawaddy was fast drawing to a close. 



* For a full account of the white elephant, and the reverence he receives, see Part II. of 
; The Boy Travellers in the Far East," Chapter XVIII. 



182 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



CHAPTER XV. 

LEAVING BUBMAH.— CAPTURING A SEA-SNAKE.— STORIES OF THE 

SEA-SERPENT. 

" TTTHERE shall we go next ?" one of the boys asked, as soon as they 
^ * were safe on shore at Rangoon. 

"That will depend on circumstances," the Doctor answered. "India 
and Ceylon are before us, and we ngust first see to which we can get with 
the least trouble and delay. We can find ships for Calcutta or Madras, 
I presume, and perhaps we may hit upon one that is ready to go to Cey- 
lon. The latter would be preferable, as we can easily get from Ceylon 
to India, whereas it might be out of our way to go to Ceylon after seeing 
the peninsula of Hindostan. We will see what can be done." 

The trio proceeded to their banker's, and asked about the possibilities 
of departure. 

To their delight they ascertained that there was a steamer ready to 
leave for England with a cargo of rice, and she would stop for coal at 
Point de Galle, in Ceylon. She had accommodations for a few passen- 
gers — the banker they were visiting was agent for her — and it required 
but a short time for the whole business to be arranged. Doctor Bronson 
and the youths were booked for Point de Galle, and returned at once 
to their hotel to be ready to go on board as soon as the sun rose the next 
morning. 

The steamer sailed promptly, and by noon they were out of the river 
and leaving the shores of Burmah behind them. 

The general direction of the ship w r as toward the south-west. The 
captain told the boys that on the morning of the second day out they 
would pass the Andaman Islands, but would not stop there ; the Anda- 
man Islands, he explained, w T ere a long narrow group that extended 
nearly parallel to the coast, and belonged nominally to British India, 
though only a few of them had been occupied. " The remarkable 
things about these islands," he continued, "are the inhabitants. They 
are different from any other known race in the world, and their Ian- 



NATIVES OF THE ANDAMAN ISLANDS. 



183 






COAST OF THE ANDAMAN ISLANDS. 



guage has no resemblance to that of any part of India or the peninsula of 
Malacca. 

" They are small in stature, being rarely more than five feet in height, 
and they have slender limbs, woolly hair, flat noses and thick lips, so that 
they resemble the negro more than any other race. Their skins are 
black, and the only clothing they wear is a thick plastering of mud, 
which they put on to prevent the insects biting them. When it cracks, 
or becomes worn in spots, a fresh roll in the mud gives them a new suit 
of clothes, and I doubt if there is any place in the world where a man 
can be clad more cheaply than in these islands, provided he follows the 
fashions of the natives. They never cultivate the soil, but live entirely 
by fishing; and one of their favorite amusements is to paint their faces 
with red ochre." 

Frank thought it would be very interesting- to have a look at this 
strange people, but the captain shook his head, and continued : 

" They will not hold any intercourse with strangers, and whenever a 
ship goes there the natives flee to the interior. If a ship is wrecked on 
the coast, and the crew falls into the hands of the natives, they are usually 



184 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

killed ; it used to be said that the natives were cannibals, and for a long 
time the story was believed; but later investigation shows that it is un- 
true. But their bad reputation and strange appearance caused it to be 
reported that the people of the Andaman Islands were monsters; in the 
time of Marco Polo this story was current, and the dog-headed men of 
Angamanain, of which he writes, are generally believed to have been the 
inhabitants of the Andaman Islands." 

As the captain had predicted, the islands were visible at daylight on 
the second morning; Frank and Fred were up early to have a look at 
them, and, while they steamed steadily onward, the boys indulged in nu- 
merous speculations as to the strange region of the world they were 
now in. 

Suddenly the first officer of the ship called to them to see a curios- 
ity. The inspection of the islands was abruptly terminated, and the boys 
went to where the officer was standing. 

The men were occupied with their daily task of washing the deck of 
the steamer; half a dozen were busily scrubbing with old brooms and 
" swabs," and two were engaged in hoisting water over the ship's side 
by means of a large bucket. At the last haul the bucket had brought 
up a snake that was wriggling about on the deck in the hope of getting 
away, and he kept opening and closing his mouth as though he would 
like to revenge himself on somebody or something by a bite. 

Fred observed that the men kept at a respectful distance from the 
snake, as though th'ey were afraid of him ; consequently, he followed their 
example, and did not venture closely. 

"Here's a sea-serpent for you," said the officer. "If you want him 
you're welcome." 

Neither of the youths cared for the property in its present condition, 
and so the offer was declined. Frank asked if it was a genuine sea- 
serpent. 

" As near as I've ever seen," was the reply ; " but it isn't what you 
commonly understand by the sea-serpent. This is a sea-snake, and he 
is found only in the Indian Ocean and the waters connected with it. 
They are generally not far from land, but I've seen 'em one or two hun- 
dred miles away from shore, so it's pretty certain they spend most if not 
all their lives in the water." 

" His bite is said to be poisonous," he continued, "and for that reason 
nobody wants to go near him. As soon as you've seen all you want to 
of him in his live state we'll kill him, and then you can look at him 
closely." 



CATCHING A SEA-SERPENT. 



185 



Just then Doctor Bronson came on deck, and after a brief survey of 
the reptile his curiosity was satisfied. Then the snake was killed by a 
blow from a handspike, and stretched on the deck. 

Frank measured the reptile, and found him a trifle over three feet 
in length. The head was quite broad and long, and the neck slender. 
The body was covered with fine scales, and the tail was formed by a 
gradual thinning of the body without any reduction of height. The 
Doctor said the tail was a close resemblance to that of the thrasher, or 
fox-shark, and he added that the latter had sometimes been mistaken for 
a sea-serpent. 

While Frank was measuring the snake, Fred was looking over the 
side of the ship in the hope of seeing another. Suddenly he shouted, 

"Here ! here ! come quick ! A snake ! a snake !" 




SEA-SNAKE OF THE INDIAN OCEAN AND FOX-SHARK. 



Doctor Bronson and Frank ran to the side, and looked in the direction 
where Fred pointed. 

There, sure enough, was a snake swimming with his head a couple of 
inches out of the water, and taking things very leisurely. He propelled 
himself with his tail, which he swung easily from side to side, exactly as 
we see with the great majority of fishes. He made very little ripple on 
the water, and it required sbarp eyes to discover him. They watched 
him as he swum away from the side of the ship, and in a very short time 
he was out of sight. 



186 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

Meantime, the captured snake had been thrown overboard, as no one 
cared to preserve it, and the men did not wish to keep it on deck. 
" These reptiles come to life sometimes after they're killed," said one 
of the old mariners, " and before you know it they lay hold of your foot 
if it is the first thing handy." 

The Doctor and the youths walked aft, and seated themselves under 
the awning, where they could look at the receding shores of the islands. 
A few moments after they were seated, Frank asked the Doctor if he 
had ever seen a real sea-serpent. 

The Doctor smiled, as he answered in the negative. 

"But is there such a thing as a sea-serpent?" Frank persisted. 

" That is a direct question," the Doctor responded, " but I am not 
able to answer it directly. Before I say yes or no I must make an ex- 
planation, or rather I will tell you what is known on the subject, and 
then you may make the answer for yourselves. 

"It is the fashion of the time," he continued, "to laugh at any one 
who thinks he has seen what may be a sea-serpent. On several occasions 
reputable ship- captains have come forward with their officers and crew 
to make oath to what they had witnessed, and their chief reward has 
been to be ridiculed by the newspapers generally : they have been treated 
as deliberate liars, or it is hinted that they were intoxicated at the time 
they supposed they were looking at a sea-serpent. The result has been 
to make mariners reluctant to give any kind of testimony concerning 
the possible existence of a sea-serpent, through fear of being treated as 
impostors. 

" About a year ago, while one of the steamers of the Peninsula and 
Oriental Company was making its voyage from Bombay to Aden, two 
or three passengers, who were on deck early in the morning, saw what 
exactly resembled a snake, sixty or eighty feet long, thrashing the water 
about half a mile from the ship. They called the attention of the cap- 
tain to it, and then that of the officer on watch; the captain turned for 
a few seconds in the direction indicated, and then looked away, and, as 
he did so, he instructed the officer of the watch to keep his eyes straight 
ahead. The passengers afterward drew up a statement of what they had 
seen, and asked the captain to sign it ; he refused to do so, and further- 
more ordered his officers and men to make no mention of the affair in 
any way whatever. He gave as an excuse for his action that, no matter 
how seriously and carefully he made his statement, he would be ridiculed 
for it, and his veracity and sobriety questioned, and he did not care to 
be thus treated. 'If a snake should come on board,' said he, 'and eat 



SEA-MONSTERS IN ANCIENT TIMES. 187 

up half the crew and passengers, I wouldn't say it was a snake, unless 
I could take him along to prove it, and perhaps then I wouldn't.' 

" The sea-serpent described in ancient histories is undoubtedly ficti- 
tious, and so is the one referred to in the nautical song, somewhat like this, 

" ' From the tip of his nose to the end of his tail 
Is just nine thousand miles.' 

" We will dismiss everything of antiquity, and also the serpent of the 
foregoing ballad, and come down to modern times. Naturalists are now 
pretty well agreed that the existence of the sea-serpent is a possibility; 
the celebrated Professor Agassiz said that if a naturalist had to sketch the 
outlines of an ichthyosaurus or plesiosaurus from the remains we have of 
them, he would make a drawing very similar to the sea-serpent as it has 
been described. The race is generally believed to be extinct, but he 
thought it probable that it w r ould be the good-fortune of some person 
on the coast of Norway or North America to find a living representative 
of this type of reptile. 

" Fossil remains of reptiles that lived ages and ages ago have been 
found by the geologists, and their former existence is proved beyond a 
doubt. For example, we find that on the coast of North America there 
were reptiles that could swallow a full-sized man as easily as a frog swal- 
lows a fly. A restoration of the fossil reptiles that once flourished in the 
State of New Jersey would not make that State a pleasant one to reside 
in, and the same may be said of the plains of Kansas and other parts of 
America. Look at this picture of the reptiles of New Jersey, and then 
say if you would like them for neighbors. 

"If such things have lived, why is it impossible for some members 
of the family to be prowling around to-day in the depths of the ocean % 
If the size of the monsters causes us to be sceptical, let us remember 
that there are inhabitants of the deep that quite equal them in bulk. 
Whales that exceed eighty feet in length are not uncommon, and when 
we consider their great depth in proportion to their length, we can ea- 
sily have enough to make a first-class sea-serpent, and leave a few tons 
to spare. 

" Then there is the colossal cuttle-fish which abounds in the Indian 
Ocean and adjacent waters ; they have been found with arms twenty- 
eight feet long and two feet in diameter, and, as they have eight of these 
arms, the aggregate length of all of them would surpass any respectable 
sea-serpent. Fishing-boats and canoes are sometimes attacked by them, 
and it is said that they have been known to overturn a two-masted junk. 



18S 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



\::r:~ [fillip: \W I'/^M 




GIGANTIC CUTTLE-FISH. 



189 



In the year 1878 the steamer Yang-tse, of the French Mail Company, 
while coming down the China Sea, ran into one of these cuttle-fish dur- 
ing the night, and the shock of the blow, was so great that it was felt 
throughout the ship. 

" Among the islands of the Indian Ocean the cuttle-fish is the great 
dread of the natives, and on the coast of Madagascar the negroes will 
not venture to swim near rocks or cliffs. They will tell you any num- 
ber of stories of men that have been pulled under water by these fish 
and drowned ; and from their great dread of the fish, it is very evident 
that their stories are not works of fiction. 








m 




CUTTLE-FISH ATTACKING A CHINESE JUNK. 



"So much for the huge inhabitants of the deep that we know about; 
let us come to the sea-serpent himself, and investigate the cases in which 
he is said to have been seen. 

" The Rev. Paul Egede, missionary to Greenland in the eighteenth 
century, says as follows : 

" ' On the 6th day of July, 1734, there appeared a very large and 
frightful sea-monster which raised itself so high out of water that its 
head reached above our main-top. It had a long, sharp snout, and spout- 



190 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



ed water like a whale, and very broad flappers. The body seemed to be 
covered with scales, and the skin was uneven and wrinkled, and the 
lower, part was formed like a snake. After some time the creature 




CAPTAIN LAWRENCE DE FERRY S SEA-SERPENT. 



plunged backward into the water, and then turned its tail up above the 
surface, a whole ship-length from the head.' " 

" Perhaps it was only a whale he saw," Frank remarked. 

" I should have said," responded the Doctor, " that the good mission- 
ary was as familiar as an old whaleman with the appearance of the whale 
and his kindred, and furthermore that his book shows him in other things 
to have been a very careful and exact observer. 

" Bishop Pontoppidan, of Norway, devoted a good deal of time to the 
investigation of the sea-serpent, and personally sought out all the mari- 
ners he could hear of who had seen one of the monsters. Here is the 
story told by Captain Lawrence de Ferry, of Bergen, Norway, and he, 
with two of his sailors, made oath to its correctness before a magistrate : 

" ' The latter end of August, in the year 1746, on my return from 
Trondhjem on a very calm and hot day, within six miles of Molde I 
heard a kind of murmuring voice from the men at the oars, and observed 
that the man at the helm kept off the land. I inquired what was the 



PERSONS WHO SAW THE SEA-SERPENT. 191 

matter, and was told that there was a sea-snake before us. I then ordered 
the man at the helm to keep to the land again, and to come up with this 
sea-snake, of which I had heard so many stories ; as the snake swum 
faster than we could row, I took my gun and fired at it ; on this he im- 
mediately plunged into the water. We rowed to the place where it sunk 
down, thinking it would come to the surface; however, it would not. The 
head of this snake, which he held more than two feet above the surface 
of the water, resembled that of a horse. It was of a grayish color, and 
the mouth was quite black and very large ; it had black eyes, and a long 
white mane that hung down from the neck to the surface of the water. 
Besides the head and neck we saw seven or eight coils or folds of the 
snake, which were very thick ; and as far as we could guess, there was 
about a fathom distance between each fold. 1 

" Captain Little, of the United States Navy, in 1781, describes a snake 
he saw in broad day on the coast of Maine, in 1780. It was about forty 
or fifty feet long and fifteen inches in diameter, and he carried three or 
four feet of his length out of water. Captain Little ordered out his boat 
to pursue the snake, but they did not succeed in capturing him. 

"Rev. Donald Maclean, a Scotch minister, describes a snake that he 
saw in 1808, which greatly alarmed his own crew and that of several fish- 
ing-boats that were out with him. In 1809 an American clergyman, who 
was out in a boat with his wife and daughter and another lady, in Penob- 
scot Bay, saw a serpent that they estimated to be about sixty feet long, 
and as large as a sloop's mast. About this time the same snake, or one 
closely resembling it, was frequently seen in the neighborhood of Penob- 
scot Bay, and a few years later (1817) a similar sea-monster appeared near 
Gloucester, Massachusetts, and was seen on man y occasions and by great 
numbers of persons. The Linnsean Society of Boston took the matter up, 
and collected the testimony of as many witnesses as could be reached. It 
remained in sight all the way from several minutes to two hours, and at 
distances varying from thirty feet to a quarter of a mile. One man saw 
it moving across the bay at the rate of a mile a minute ; another watched 
it for half a day, and says it had a head shaped like a rattlesnake's, but as 
large as that of a horse. One man saw it open its mouth, which was like 
a snake's ; another said the body was rough and scaly ; and another that 
it darted out its tongue at least a couple of feet. Its length was estimated 
all the way from forty to eighty feet, and its color was dark. Finally, the 
magistrate before whom the testimony was taken had an opportunity of 
seeing the monster, and his evidence corroborates that of the rest. 

"In 1830 the sea-serpent appeared near Kennebunk, Maine, and was. 



192 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 




HEAL) OF CAPTAIN m'QUHAe'.S SERPENT. 



seen by several persons. In 1845 he showed himself near Lynn, Massa- 
chusetts, and he had a great many observers, among whom were several 

of the old merchants and other 
solid men of Boston and its vi- 
cinity. He has appeared sev- 
eral times since then at various 
points on the New England 
coast, but has not been seen by 
many persons. 

" Later still we have the evi- 
dence of Captain Peter M'Quhae, 
commanding the frigate Dceda- 
lus, of the British Navy. He 
testifies that, on August 6th, 
1849, in latitude 24° 44' S., longitude 9° 22' E., he and his officers and 
crew saw a sea-serpent. He thus describes it : 

" ' Our attention being called to the object, it was discovered to be an 
enormous serpent, with head and shoulders kept about four feet con- 
stantly above the surface of the sea ; and as nearly as we could approxi- 
mate by comparing it with what our main-top-sail yard would show in the 
water, there was at least sixty feet of the animal just under the surface, 
no part of which was used in propelling it through the water, either by 
horizontal or vertical undulation. It passed rapidly, but so close under 
our lee-quarter that, had it been a man of my acquaintance, I should have 
easily recognized his features with the naked eye ; and it did not, either 
in approaching the ship or after it had passed our wake, deviate in the 
slightest degree from its course to the south-west, which it held on at the 
pace of from twelve to fifteen miles per hour, apparently on some deter- 
mined purpose. 

" ' The diameter of the serpent was about fifteen or sixteen inches be- 
hind the head, which was, without any doubt, that of a snake ; and it was 
never, during the twenty minutes that it continued in sight of our glasses, 
once below the surface of the water. Its color a dark brown, with yel- 
lowish-white about the throat. It had no fins, but something like the 
mane of a horse, or, rather, a bunch of sea-weed, washed about its back. 
It was seen by the quarter-master, the boatswain's mate, and the man at 
the wheel, in addition to myself and officers above mentioned.' 

" He gives a sketch of the serpent to show his general appearance, 
which certainly is very snaky. 

" In 1860," the Doctor continued, " a sea-serpent was washed ashore 



THE BOSTON SEA-SNAKE. 



193 



on the Bermuda Islands, which answered exactly the description of Cap- 
tain M'Quhae's snake, except in size. It was sixteen feet seven inches 
long, and its construction was such as to show very clearly that its home 
was in the water. A snake three feet long, lacking a single inch, was 
killed on the coast of Massachusetts and sent to some of the scientific 
men of Boston. They pronounced it a true sea-serpent, and found that 
its body could be bent vertically with the greatest ease, but it was diffi- 
cult to bend it horizontally. The same was the case with the Bermuda 
serpent; and in all the descriptions of the sea-serpent off the coast of New 
England or of Norway, it has been observed that the folds- came above 
the water, one beyond another. One observer said it was like a string 
of kegs or floats ; and those who are sceptical as to the existence of the 
snake have attributed this appearance to a school of porpoises pursuing 
each other. But it should be remembered that most of the observers are 
men perfectly familiar with porpoises and other marine productions, ana 
not very likely to be deceived." 

" Haven't I read somewhere," said Fred, " that there was a skeleton 
of a large sea-serpent in a museum in Germany ?" 




CAPTAIN M'QUHAE'S SEA-SERPENT. 

13 



194 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

" Quite possibly you have," Doctor Bronson answered, with a smile, 
"and thereby hangs a bit of history. An enterprising American was 
trading on the coast of Siberia, where formerly great numbers of whales 
were killed. Their bones were thickly scattered along the beach, and 
he conceived the idea of turning them to account. 

" He hired the natives, and set some of his own men at work to col- 
lect the bones of three good-sized whales. Out of the ribs and vertebras 
of the three he constructed a magnificent snake a hundred and ten feet 
long, and with a capacity sufficient for swallowing a four-horse coach, 
with team, passengers, driver, and all. He was careful to reject the head, 
pretending it had not been found ; if he had shown the head, the decep- 
tion would have been revealed too soon for his purpose, as some one 
would have been sure to recognize it as the head of a whale. 

" He shipped his prize to Hamburg, and it was put on exhibition 
there, and then offered for sale. It was bought by a wealthy museum, 
and the scientific men came from far and near to see it. The speculator 
disappeared ; not long after he had gone the secret came out, and the 
wonderful serpent was found to be the skeletons of three whales neatly 
put together. 

"One thing I had almost forgotten to mention: the snakes in the 
Indian seas were useful in showing ships their position before the mari- 
ner's compass was invented. Pliny says the Roman navigators ' directed 
their course by the flight of birds, which they took with them and let go 
from time to time; also various signs in the sea, such as the color of the 
water, and sea-snakes floating on the surface.' A Turkish treatise, written 
in 1550, mentions a route from Aden to Guzerat, and then by the coast to 
Malabar, working by the stars, sea-snakes, and birds ; and a Mohamme- 
dan writer, in 1749, says that, while sailing along the coast of Ceyion, 
they knew they were near the land three days before they saw it, from 
the snakes in the sea." 



A NEW STYLE OF BOAT. 195 



CHAPTER XVI. 

ARRIVAL IN CEYLON. —CINGALESE BOATS. — PRECIOUS STONES OF 

THE EAST. 

HPHE steamer sped onward to the south-west, toward the shores of Cey- 
-*- Ion ; favored by the north-east monsoon, she made good progress, 
and the time passed rapidly for onr friends. On the morning of the 
third day, after they lost sight of the Andaman Islands, a sail was re- 
ported directly ahead, and the boys were thrown into a state of excite- 
ment in consequence. 

Rapidly they approached the stranger, which was soon made out to 
be a craft of a style that had not been seen before. As it came toward 
them, Fred remarked that it was the narrowest boat he had ever seen to 
carry such a sail, and Frank wondered why it did not tip over; but as 
it came nearer, and swung along-side, he saw the reason why. 

The boat was about thirty feet long, and hewn from a single log that 
had been spread at the centre, so as to hold two men of medium size, 
sitting side by side. On the gunwale, or top edge, there were planks a 
foot and a half in width, and these planks extended the whole length of 
the boat, and were closed at the ends by short ones that had a consider- 
able slope forward ; the latter planks served to keep out the waves, and, 
as they were somewhat narrower than the width of the log, they gave 
the craft its very pinched appearance. They were fastened to the boat 
by means of coarse twine, or "coir" twisted from the fibres of the cocoa- 
nut -tree. The joints were daubed with pitch and oil to render them 
water-proof, but they were only partially so, and when the boat leaned 
far over to leeward, it was likely that a good deal of water would be 
shipped. 

" You are quite right," said the Doctor, in response to the observation 
just recorded, which was made by Frank, " but she doesn't go far over 
to leeward, even in the strongest winds." 

"How can that be," queried Frank, "when she's so narrow ?" 

"The outrigger keeps her down," was the reply; "you have been 



196 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



so absorbed with looking at the boat that you haven't seen the out- 
rigger." 

The youth now perceived, a log of wood nearly as long as the boat, 
and sharpened at the ends, lying parallel to, and about twenty feet away 




OUTRIGGER BOAT TROM LADRONE ISLANDS. 



from it. It was held in place by means of a couple of bamboo poles, 
that were curved above the water so as to offer no resistance by drag- 
ging. Frank had observed the poles, but had not noticed the log, as it 
was almost completely submerged, and, besides, it was so near the color 
of the water that it could not be readily distinguished from it. 

" You see the use of the outrigger," said the Doctor ; " when sailing, 
they always keep it on the windward side, and before it could tip over 
the boat must lift the log clean from the water, and high in air, which 
it is hardly able to do. Perhaps it might in a cyclone, or in a very 
strong gale, but at such times the boats seek the shelter of the land 
or lie to and face the storm as best they can." 

"I remember now," said Fred, "that we saw some boats with out- 
riggers while we were at the Philippine Islands, and there were some 
at Rangoon and Singapore, but I don't think any of them were as grace- 
ful as this." 

" That is so," was the reply. " The Cingalese, as the people of Cey- 



DOUBLE CANOES. 



197 



Ion are called, are famous for the lightness and swiftness of their boats, 
and their speed is something marvellous. They have been known to sail 




\ ' 




DOUBLE CANOE, FRIENDLY ISLANDS. 



fifteen or twenty miles an hour, and when at their best speed they hardly 
seem to touch the waves, which they skim with the velocity of a bird; 
they go far out to sea, and 
have been known to make 
voyages of hundreds of 
miles. Their carrying ca- 
pacity is not great, but the 
wants of these people are 
so few that they can get 
along with a much smaller 
stock of provisions than 
the majority of sailors." 

"Why don't they put 
two boats together, and 
make a double one V in- 
quired one of the boys. 

" As to that," answered 
Doctor Bronson, " I can 
only say, because they don't. 
Double canoes are in use in 
some of the South Pacific Islands, and have been found very successful; 
they sail finely, and have a great carrying capacity ? and when used in 




DOUBLE CANOE, SOCIETY ISLANDS. 



198 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



sheltered bays, or in parts of the ocean where the waves are not likely 
to rack them too much, a deck or platform is built to cover both boats. 
This is the case in the Society and Friendly Islands, where the double 
canoe has long been used, and is famous for its high speed ; in the La- 
drone Islands the outrigger is more popular, and is made on the same 
principle as that of Ceylon ; but the boat is neither so sharp nor so long 
in proportion to its length. 




FKEJEE ISLAND CANOE. 



" These outrigger boats sail in either direction ; the sail is attached to 
two poles, which are raised and lowered with it ; the mast is in the cen- 
tre, and the ends of the craft are exactly alike. The change of direction 
is made by raising one pole and lowering the other ; when this is done 
the boat immediately reverses her movements, and the outrigger is al- 
ways kept to windward. The same is the case with the double canoes of 
the Friendly Islands, which sail either way, but the canoes of the Society 
Islands are pointed at the bow and flat at the stern, and consequently oan 
only go in one direction. 



HOW TO MAKE A DOUBLE STEAMEK. 199 

" The people of the Feejee Islands make their boats on a combination 
of the two systems. They have the outrigger principle in place of that 
of the double canoe, but they make the outrigger hollow, and use it for 
stowing cargo ; and in large canoes it is the home of a part of the crew. 
Then they have the platform, as in the case of the double canoe, and 
sometimes they have a sort of upper deck, or pilot-house, on the platform, 
where the captain stands to direct the movements of the craft. All these 
forms of boats are steered by means of paddles, and not with a rudder." 

" I wonder somebody in the civilized world does not take something 
from these savages in the way of boat-building," said Frank, as soon as 
the Doctor paused. "Seems to me there is a good deal in these ideas of 
the double canoe, and the way they manage them." 

" A great many persons have wondered as you do," the Doctor an- 
swered ; " and some have ceased wondering, and tried the principles on 
both small and large craft. A few years ago one of the races of the 
New York Yacht Club was won by a boat on the double-canoe principle, 
and since then several of these boats have been built with different de- 
grees of success. In England a steamer called the Gastalia was built for 
crossing the channel between Dover and Calais, but she proved to be 
very slow in spite of her enormous engines, which were intended to pro- 
pel her not less than twenty miles an hour. The chief defect in her con- 
struction was that she was built like two complete boats placed side by 
side, whereas she should have been shaped like a single boat that had 
been sawed in two from one end to the other. The water is ploughed off 
from the bows of a boat, as you can see at any tims, and when two boats 
are close to each other and parallel, the water is banked up between 
them and retards their progress ; but where a double boat is built as 
I have suggested, and as the South Sea Islanders build them, the case 
is different, and the two hulls glide as smoothly as though they were 
only one. 

"An American, who has given much study to the subject, has devised 
a form of boat for pleasure purposes along the coast, that he claims to be 
a vast improvement over the boats we now have in use. He suggests a 
double hull sixteen feet long, and each half of the hull eighteen inches 
wide at the top, and the same in depth. He puts these hulls five feet 
apart, connects them by beams, and lays down a light deck thirteen feet 
long and eight feet wide at its broadest part. He places a rudder on 
each hull, and attaches the two to a single tiller, and he rigs the boat 
with a lateen sail, though he frankly confesses that the ordinary boom- 
and-gaff sail is better for all purposes except that of picturesqueness. As 



200 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



the Americans are a practical people, they are not very likely to adopt 
the sail of the Mediterranean and the South Seas because it looks well." 

While this conversation concerning boats was going on the strange 
craft swung into the path of the steamer, and a rope was thrown from 




AMERICAN" MODIFICATION OF A SAVAGli BOAT. 



the latter to the former. It was caught by one of her men, and without 
the speed of the steamer slacking in the least, the Cingalese boat came 
along-side and was made fast. A native clambered up the rope with the 
speed of a monkey, and Frank observed that he grasped it between the 
first and second toes of his feet, exactly as the Malays do. Like the Ma- 
lays they go barefooted all their lives, and consequently the toes retain 
far more freedom of action than they would if confined in boots or shoes. 
The occupants of the boat were fishermen, and they had a stock of 
freshly-caught fish, from which the captain of the steamer made a liberal 
purchase for the use of his. passengers and crew. Then they had some 
of the fruits of Ceylon, principally cocoa-nuts, both green and ripe ; the 
former were in the greatest demand, as they afforded an agreeable relief 



FISHERMEN OF CEYLON. 201 

from the warm water that had been the beverage of the party since their 
departure from Rangoon. The juice of the green cocoa-nut is one of the 
most delicious drinks imaginable ; it is slightly acidulous, and an excel- 
lent tonic for the stomach. The natives drink it without the least restric- 
tion, and it is very rarely that a foreigner finds any ill effects resulting 
from its use. 

The Parawas, or fishermen of Ceylon, are a distinct class or caste by 
themselves, and it is a curious circumstance that they are all Catholic 
Christians. They are of the same race as the fishermen of Southern In- 
dia, and were among the first converts of the Portuguese missionaries 
more than three hundred years ago. The fishermen of Northern Ceylon 
invited St. Francis Xavier to go and teach them in the doctrines of Chris- 
tianity in 1544; they were converted through his labors, and their de- 
scendants have remained faithful to the creed that was then promulgated. 
Partly in consequence of the difference of religious belief they have com- 
paratively few relations with the other inhabitants of Ceylon, and stick 
persistently to their occupations. They are divided into thirteen sections, 
and each has its own work connected with the fishing business. Some of 
them are boat-builders, others are carpenters, others weave the nets, and 
others make the spears and various, metal implements that are used. 
Those who go out to catch the fish are divided into various classes, such 
as rock-fishers, beach-fishers, net-fishers, spear-fishers, boat-fishers, rod- 
fishers, etc. They are a brave and hardy people, and though few of them 
get rich, they usually lead comfortable lives, as the seas around Ceylon 
abound in fish, and the man who pursues them patiently is pretty sure to 
be rewarded. 

The boat delivered the purchases made by the steamer, and then 
dropped off, and was soon left far behind. The next morning, when the 
boys went on deck, the coast of Ceylon was in sight, eight or ten miles 
away. Near the shore it was a mass of green, with here and there a lit- 
tle nook opening into what might possibly be a harbor, and for the 
greater part of the way the verdure came closely down to the water. 
As they drew nearer and nearer, the boys made out the verdure to be 
a limitless extent of cocoa-nut trees, and they were not at all surprised 
when told that there were many millions of them on the island of 
Ceylon. 

" You observe," said .the Doctor, " that all along the shore the trees 

hang over the water, and apparently their roots are pushed out into the 

sea. The tree is fond of the salt-water, and grows better at the edge 

of the sea than away from it. It is a wonderful provision of nature that 

13* 



202 



THE BOY TKAVELLERS IN THE FAE EAST. 



the tree bends over the sea, as the fruit when ripe falls into the water, 
and is carried away to other lands. It may furnish food for men and 
animals, or it may be cast on a sandy shore, where it develops and 
takes root, and grows into another tree, that follows the example of its 
parent." 

At this moment the captain of the steamer approached them, and 
pointed out a chain of mountains that could just be designated on the 




SCENE ON THE COAST OF CEYLON. 



horizon. " The sharp one is the Peak of Adam," he explained ; " you'll 
probably know more about it by-and-by." 

" Why is it called the Peak of Adam V was the inquiry that naturally 
followed this announcement. 

" Because," was the reply, " it is supposed to bear the mark of Adam's 
foot when he stepped from the island to the Kingdom of Siam. This 
is the Mohammedan tradition, but the natives claim that the footprint 
was made by Buddha, and for this reason they hold it in high veneration, 
and have a temple on the summit. For sailors it is a landmark, as it i& 
the highest mountain in the island, with a single exception." 

"Perhaps we may have an opportunity to ascend it," said the Doc- 



ARRIVAL AT POINT DE GALLE. 203 

tor; "and if we do, we shall see many things about it and from its sum- 
mit to remind us of our ascent of Fusiyama, in Japan." 

The steamer rounded the southern extremity of the great island, and 
headed for the port of Point de Galle. The scenery of the coast was 
not materially changed as the miles were left behind, and our friends 
began to weary a little on account of its monotony. It seemed as though 
the cocoa-nut-trees were unending, and one of the boys declared that he 
had seen enough of them to last him for some time. By-and-by a flag- 
staff was visible on a little promontory, and the captain announced that 
they were close to their destination. Several boats were cruising about 
in front of the entrance to the harbor, and, as the steamer came into sight, 
two or three of these boats headed for her. They were outriggers, of the 
same pattern as we have already encountered, and from one of them a 
pilot was taken to guide the steamer to her anchorage. 

A ship arriving in front of Galle at night must anchor outside, or 
cruise up and down till daylight, as the pilots never come off during 
the hours of darkness, no matter what signals are made. The harbor 
is not an easy one to enter, and requires great care on the part of the 
pilot to bring a ship safely to anchor. There are several sunken rocks 
inside, and a stranger would be almost certain to run on them, even with 
the assistance of a good chart ; a steamer was once lost here owing to 




KUINS OF A PORTUGUESE CHURCH, 



the delay of only a few seconds in the transmission of an order for the 
stoppage of the engines, and others have received serious damage from 
similar causes. Many plans have been devised for improving the harbor 



204 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



by the removal of the rocks, and it is said that contracts have been made 
recently with some Americans for that very desirable work. 

The steamer was brought to the place assigned her, and securely 




A YOUNG NATIVE AT BREAKFAST. 



moored, and as soon as this had been done, our friends entered one of 
the curious little outrigger boats and were carried to the shore. The 
boys were so pleased with the picturesque beauty of the place that they 
wished to make a sketch of it, but there was no time to do so, and the 
proposal was dropped. The port is a delightful nook in the coast of 
Ceylon, surrounded with cocoa -nut -trees that grow down to the very 
edge of the water, and have their roots washed by its spray. At one 
side is the old town or fort, which dates back to the Portuguese occu- 
pation of the place, and gives a hint of its age by its venerable appear- 
ance. Some of the old buildings are in ruins, as the government does 
not care to reconstruct them. 

Point de Galle has very little local commerce, and its chief impor- 
tance comes from its geographical position. Nearly all the steamers be- 
tween Europe, on the one hand, and China and the Far East, on the other, 
touch at Galle for coal, and many thousand tons of this fuel are handled 



DEALERS IN COUNTERFEIT GEMS. 205 

there every month. Some days there are eight or ten arrivals and de- 
partures, and rarely is there a day without a steamer entering or leaving. 
A glance at the position of the place, with reference to other ports of the 
Indian Ocean and the Eastern seas in general, will show .its great impor- 
tance as a coaling-station. Its name is supposed to be derived from the 
great number of coral rocks — Galla — on this part of the coast, and par- 
ticularly in the vicinity of the harbor. 

Doctor Bronson and the youths had hardly set foot on land before 
they were pestered with natives offering precious stones for sale. Cey- 
lon is famous for its real gems, and as there is rarely a good thing in 
this world without a counterfeit, there are plenty of imitation gems in 
the hands of the peddlers. ' In fact, it may be set down that nearly all 
that are offered are false, for the reason that the profit on their sale is 
greater than can possibly happen with real stones. The stones for which 
Ceylon is famous are the sapphire, ruby, topaz, and garnet, but they are 
not sufficiently abundant to yield fortunes to those who dig for them. 
Some of the rivers flowing from Adam's Peak are literally paved with 
garnets, but they are nearly all so small as to be worthless. The only use 
for these garnet-sands is for sawing elephants' teeth into plates, and for 
polishing other gems. 

The annual exportation of precious stones from Ceylon is about 
$50,000; this does not include the stones, nearly all false, that are sold to 
passengers on the steamers touching at Galle. When there is a goodly 
number of verdant travellers on a steamer, the harvest is likely to be a 
rich one. The European naturally thinks there is a relation between the 
asking and the selling price of an article, and when a native demands a 
hundred dollars for a gem, the stranger is very apt to offer five or ten dol- 
lars for the stone, and even then he thinks he has acted meanly. He is 
astonished to find his offer accepted, and still more astonished to find that 
his purchase is not worth twenty -five cents. 

A couple of natives followed our friends in their walk on shore, and 
persisted in offering a select assortment of rubies, sapphires, and other 
stones. One of them urged Frank to buy a fine ruby for ten pounds, 
and a sapphire for fifteen, with the guarantee of his word of honor that 
they were genuine. Frank thought of his sister and Miss Effie, and how 
much these gems would please them, and finally asked the dealer his low- 
est price. 

The man meditated a moment, as if balancing in his mind the figure 
that came as nearly as possible to the actual cost, and then said he would 
sell the two for twenty pounds, or one hundred dollars. 



206 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



Frank referred the matter to Doctor Bronson, and asked how much 
it would be wise to offer. The latter looked at the stones for a moment, 
and suggested that a rupee (fifty cents) would be about the thing. 

Frank was rather taken aback at this difference in figures, but gravely 
followed his mentor's advice. He tendered the rupee, which was refused 
with indignation ; but when he held the stones in one hand and the rupee 
in the other, for the man to take his choice and be gone, the rupee was 
accepted, and Frank was the happy owner of a sapphire and a ruby of ex- 
cellent color and "finest water," that had their origin among the makers 
of false gems in Paris or London. The native makers are, however, quite 
as skilful as the Europeans, and it is said that some of the best fictions in 
the way of precious stones are produced in India. 




VIEW OF THE COAST NEAR GALLE HARBOR. 



LANDING IN CEYLON. 



207 



CHAPTER XVII. 

SIGHTS IN POINT DE GALLE.— OVERLAND TO COLOMBO. 

OUR friends went to the Oriental Hotel, the principal hostelry in the 
city, and thence to the banker's, where it was thought there might 
possibly be letters waiting for them. Frank remarked that the streets 
were very quiet for a place of as much importance as Galle, but Fred 
reminded him that its chief business was to serve as a coaling-station for 
steamers, and it was not to be expected that the steamers would come up 
into the streets to get their coal. Frank acknowledged the force of his 
cousin's argument, and the subject of conversation was changed. 




A STREET IN POINT DE GALLE. 



The houses were rarely more than two stories high, and they had 
shaded balconies where the occupants could be partially protected from 
the heat during the middle of the day. Point de Galle is cooler than 
some places farther north, for the reason that the wind blows with great 



208 



THE BOi T TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



force for a large part of the year, and sometimes it is so fierce that it rolls 
the surf into the harbor, and causes small craft to dance uneasily at their 
anchorage. The houses are solidly built of stone or stuccoed brick, and 
many of the floors are of the same material, on account of the greater 





j#P 



Hi* 




AN ARMY OF ANTS ON THE MOVE. 



coolness. Another reason for the use of stone or brick instead of wood 
is the presence of a white ant that devours the latter substance with great 
rapidity ; teak and one or two other kinds of wood resist him, but all oth- 
ers are his legitimate food. Speaking on this subject, the Doctor told the 
boys that some years ago a quantity of machinery was sent from America 
to Ceylon, and the shippers hoped to make a fine profit on their venture. 
The machinery was partly of wood and partly of iron, and the wood hap- 
pened to be of a kind that these ants are fond of. In less than three 
months they had devoured it ; the machinery fell to pieces, and was ut- 
terly useless, and the whole value of the shipment was lost. "American 
exporters," said he, " would do well to learn the peculiarities of the coun- 
tries where their goods are going before they venture on making con- 
signments." 

Ceylon contains a varied assortment of ants, and some of them are 
great nuisances : they swarm over everything, and seem to consider that 
the house and all it contains belong to them. There is one variety that 
is a terror to every living thing ; it is about an inch long, and has a pair 



A RIDE TO WOCKWALLA. 209 

of powerful jaws with which it inflicts a severe wound. It is formidable 
in consequence of always moving in great numbers, and when it is once 
started there is hardly anything that will stop it. 

An army of these ants will march through a forest, and make a road 
a yard or more in width that resembles a well-trodden path. When hun- 
gry they spread out over the fields and devour every green thing, and 
they can kill cattle, horses, and even large snakes that happen in their 
way. It is said that their favorite way of killing a snake is by first bit- 
ing his eyes out, and when they have reduced him to a condition of blind- 
ness his capture is comparatively easy. They eat every particle of flesh 
and leave the bones, and if a skeleton that they have operated on can be 
found before the bones are scattered by the wild beasts, it is in exactly 
the condition required for a museum. They show great ingenuity in 
crossing rivers, and their performances have a strong resemblance to rea- 
son. When they come to a stream they search for an overhanging tree, 
and as soon as they have discovered it a lot of ants proceed to the end of 
the branch that reaches the farthest over the water. Here they form a 
chain by linking their bodies together, and the one at the end of the 
chain grasps a branch on the opposite side, and thus completes a suspen- 
sion-bridge, by which the rest of the army can cross. When all are over 
the bridge dissolves and brings up the rear. If the overhanging branch 
does not reach to the other side, they swing the living chain till the ant at 
the lower end can seize hold of something, and sometimes they give it 
additional strength by throwing out guy-ropes or braces of strings of ants. 

It was proposed to take a ride to Wockwalla, a famous place near 
Point de Galle. There were several carriages in front of the hotel, 
and one of them was engaged for the ride, with the understanding that 
the return would be made through the cinnamon gardens. The ride 
was through a rich tropical forest, and the boys both agreed that they 
had seen no forest more luxuriant than this since they left Java. The 
trees for much of the way overhung the road, and sheltered the travel- 
lers from the sun ; and at almost every step they caught sight of birds 
playing among the branches. Small boys ran after them with bunches 
of jasmine and other flowers for sale, and one of the youths bought a 
bunch of mace which was just blooming, and showing the brown nutmeg 
inside. They regretted that they could not carry it home just as it was, 
and show their friends the great beauty of the nutmeg-tree when it puts 
forth its flowers. 

Wockwalla proved to be a hill from which there was a fine view of 
rice-fields and tropical forests, and a pretty river winding through them. 



210 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



With an eye to business some one had built a refreshment-stand on the 
top of the hill, and a notice was posted that all who did not patronize 
the establishment would be expected to pay for the privilege of sitting 
on the balcony. As the day was warm, it was promptly decided that 
lemonades would be in order, and they were speedily prepared. Mangoes 
and two or three other kinds of fruit were brought, and an hour was 
passed very pleasantly in the contemplation of the attractions of Wock- 
walla, which were not altogether confined to the scenery. 

The return to Galle was by a different route, which led them by the 
cinnamon gardens, where a fee was charged for looking at the trees. 
Some of the natives stripped off a portion of the bark of one of the 




ENTRANCE TO THE CINNAMON GARDENS. 



trees, and allowed the boys to taste and smell it to make sure that it 
was cinnamon and nothing else. It was not the season of gathering 
the bark, and consequently they were unable to witness the process of 
obtaining the spice, which forms an important export to Europe and 
America. 

While they were wandering about the gardens, and looking at the 
trees, the Doctor told the boys about the plant they were studying. 

" You see," said he, " that the trees are from fifteen to thirty feet 
high, and when you stand half a dozen yards away the strong perfume 
that rises from them is plainly perceptible. The scientific men call it 
the Laurus cinnamomum, and it was known to the ancients long before 
the beginning of the Christian era ; it is a native of Ceylon, and it is said 



IN THE CINNAMON GARDENS. 211 

that there are not far from 15,000 acres of ground in the island devoted 
to its culture. The trees are grown from seed, and when they are eight 
years old they begin to yield the cinnamon of commerce, and they con- 
tinue to yield it till they have passed a hundred years. An acre of 
ground well planted with good trees will give not less than 400 pounds 
of cinnamon in a year, and sometimes as much as 500 pounds. 

"The bark is stripped off in pieces about forty inches long, and is 
then fermented till the outer skin separates from the inner, which is the 
one that is wanted. Then the inner skin is dried in the sun very slowly, 
and it is this drying that makes it curl up in the way you see it in the 
stores at home. It does not require a rich soil for its production, and 
many of the cinnamon gardens of Ceylon are on sandy land that would 
not easily produce anything else." 

Frank asked if all the cinnamon used in the world came from the 
island of Ceylon. 

" Not by any means," was the reply ; " but there was a time when 
Ceylon had a monopoly of the commerce. When the Dutch held the 
island they carried the trees to Java and started the culture there ; and 
the Chinese have a tree that belongs to the same family as this one, 
though its product is not as good. The Chinese variety is called cassia, 
and is extensively used for medicinal purposes. About half the cinna- 
mon used in Europe and America comes from Ceylon, and the rest from 
Java, China, and South America." 

It was near sunset when our friends returned to Galle, and were 
dropped at the door of the hotel. Before starting on the ride to Wock- 
walla the Doctor had sent the commissionnaire of the hotel to bring their 
baggage from the steamer, and on their return they found it waiting for 
them in the corridor. The heavy trunks were sent off early in the even- 
ing by a wagon bound for Colombo, and the three passengers were to 
leave about ten o'clock at night by the coach. 

The distance between Galle and Colombo is nearly seventy miles, and 
a coach runs each way daily ; the fare is £2 5s., or about $11 00, and 
an extra coach of four seats may be had for £11. The steamers of the 
P. and O. Company do not touch at Colombo, and passengers bound for 
that place are ticketed through at the same rates as to Galle alone. Af- 
ter the arrival of a steamer of this company at Galle the coaches are apt 
to be greatly crowded for a day or two, and, as one was due the next day, 
the Doctor thought it best to get off at once ; besides, they had exhausted 
the sights of Galle, and there was no use in waiting longer. 

The coach came to the hotel at the appointed hour, and the three 



212 THE BOY TEAVELLEES IN THE FAE EAST. 

passengers took their places. They found that they had the vehicle 
pretty much to themselves, as there was only one other passenger, an 
English coffee-planter who lived up country, and had been to Galle on 
business. The vehicle was a rickety affair, and the horses were not half 
as good as those that had drawn the boys in their journey through Java ; 
Frank remarked the low condition of the team, and the Englishman told 
him that horses were dear in Ceylon, as they were not raised in the 
country, but were imported from Burmah, Australia, the Malay Archi- 
pelago, and the Persian Gulf. " Those of us who want horses," said he, 
"are constantly on the lookout for new lots of whalers, as we depend 
on them to recruit our stocks." 

Fred modestly asked what the whalers had to do with bringing horses 
to Ceylon. 

" I see," said the Englishman, laughing, " you don't understand our 
expressions. A 'whaler' is a horse that has been imported from Austra- 
lia ; when you get to Colombo you will see placards on the walls, or ad- 
vertisements in the papers, that choice lots of whalers have just been re- 
ceived, and will be sold at auction on a certain day if not previously dis- 
posed of at private sale." 

" I suppose," Frank remarked, " that it is in the same way that for- 
eigners living in China call an imported horse a 'griffin;' do you call 
these horses griffins as well as whalers ?" 

"Not often," answered the Englishman ; "but sometimes you hear the 
name from an Englishman who has been in China. In India and Ceylon 
the term griffin is applied to a newly-arrived Englishman, and it sticks 
to him till he has been a year in the country. Griffin is frequently ab- 
breviated to 'griff,' and those who are familiar with the talk of English- 
men in India know perfectly well what is meant when a man is called a 
griff." 

"Returning to horses," he continued, "the best are from Australia, 
and they sell for nearly double the prices that the others will bring. 
Then we have them from the Persian Gulf, of a poor quality so far as ap- 
pearance is concerned, but they do very good service. The team that we 
now have is composed of Gulf horses, and what they lack in speed they 
make up in savage tempers. They are difficult to manage, and, as one of 
your countrymen once remarked in my hearing, 'they are very handy with 
their heels !' A better horse than this is the Pegu pony, as it is called ; it 
comes mostly from the western end of Sumatra, and stands the climate 
very well, besides being less vicious than the res't, but it cannot equal the 
Australian for speed." 



SCENES ON THE EOAD TO COLOMBO. 



213 



" We use donkeys here for carrying burdens, just as they are used in 
nearly every part of the world. They are rather too weak for riding 
purposes, and you will not often see them with riding -saddles on their 
backs ; the pack - saddle is almost as large as the animal that carries it, 
but it is lighter than you would suppose, as it is made from pandanus- 
leaves and coir-rope, and serves its purpose very well." 

The greater part of this conversation occurred after the coach had 
started on its journey and before it reached the first station for changing 
horses. The road was excellent, and the team made such progress as to 
surprise the boys, who had thought such sorry animals could go little 
faster than a walk. The horses kept an even pace of about seven miles 
an hour, and hardly broke from a trot for miles where the road was level. 
The road was lined on each side by cocoa-nut-trees, and their new ac- 
quaintance told the boys that the trees 
continued without interruption all the 
way from Galle to Colombo. 

The change of horses was made by 
the light of torches, and the kicking 
and general restlessness of the animals 
confirmed what the Englishman had 
said about their bad tempers. The 
drivers and stablemen seemed to have 
a wholesome respect for the brutes as 
long as they were in danger from their 
heels — but when the team was all 
ready, and the driver had mounted to 

his box, he made up for any previous forbearance by a liberal use of the 
whip. 

After passing the first station the travellers settled down to sleep, and, 
as there were four of them, each had a corner to himself. The boys slept 
quite well during the night, waking only from an occasional jolt or when 
stopping at the stations for the change of horses. The night air was 
damp from the fog that poured in from the sea, and, by advice of their 
new acquaintance, they wrapped themselves well around the throat to 
avoid taking cold. 

In the morning they were still among the cocoa-trees, and, as they 
looked out on the forest of tall trunks extending as far as they could 
see in any direction, the conversation naturally turned upon the uses of 
this product of the earth. The coffee-planter told them that there were 
fifteen varieties of the palm-tree in Ceylon, the most of them growing in 




DONKEY AND PACK-SADDLE. 



214 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



the hilly regions of the interior of the island. 
" The cocoa-nut palm," said he, "grows only along 
the coast ; you tind it occasionally among the 
hills, but not often, and it never seems to flourish 
there." 

"And I suppose its chief use is to produce 
cocoa - nuts V Fred remarked, as the stranger 
paused. 

" That is its principal use," was the reply ; 
" but, according to the natives, it has ninety-nine 
others." 

"A hundred uses for one tree!" replied Fred, 
in astonishment. 

" Yes," said the stranger, " the natives claim 
that they can rely on the cocoa-palm for a hun- 
dred different things. It is sufficient to build, rig, 
and freight the small vessels of the Maldive Isl- 
ands. It produces wine, water, oil, sugar, 
spirits, vinegar, and milk ; a species of 
sago is obtained from the pith of the 
trunk near the head, and a vegetable 
like cabbage from the young buds when 
boiled ; the old leaves make huts, fences, 
baskets, and the like, and the young 
leaves are yellow and transparent, so that 
they make pretty lanterns and decora- 
tions; the shells of the nuts are made 
into cups, ladles, spoons, and similar uten- 
sils, and, when not wanted for any other purposes, they can be converted 
into charcoal for cooking food. From the fibres of the leaves brooms can 
be made, the butts of the stalks make paddles and handles to farming 
implements, while the fibres of the husks may be converted into ropes, 
twine, matting, carpets, and mattresses. 

" You may think that is all, but it isn't. The tree has many medicinal 
properties: the natives extract a powerful oil from the bark, which they 
use in cutaneous diseases; the juice of the flower makes an astringent 
lotion like alum; a decoction of the root is given in fevers; and the juice 
of the leaves mixed with some of the oil is used for ophthalmia. Cocoa- 
nut-oil is the best remedy for the stings of insects, and it is already well 
known to European and American chemists. The bamboo is said to be 







GATHERING COCOA-NUTS. 



USES OF THE COCOA-PALM. 



215 




A YOUNG COCOA-PALM. 



one of the most useful trees in 

the world, but I doubt if it holds 

a higher place than the cocoa- 
nut-tree." 

Frank wished to know how 

long the trees lived, and how 

soon they began to bear fruit. 
" They begin to bear about 

the seventh year," replied the 

coffee -planter, "and are in full 

bearing at twelve years. As 

long as they live they produce 

from forty to fifty nuts a year 

on the average, and they keep it 

up for seventy or eighty years. 

They produce their fruit at dif- 
ferent times in the year, so that 

you may see it in all stages of growth, from the blossom up to the nut 

that is ripe and ready to fall. Look at any of the trees as we ride past 

them, and see for your- 
selves." 

The boys looked out of 
the windows of the coach, 
and verified the statements 
of their informer. While 
he was doing so, Frank 
made a mental calculation 
something like the follow- 
ing : 

" There are said to be 
20,000,000 cocoa-nut-trees 
in Ceylon. Now, if each 
tree makes forty nuts a 
year, they have 800,000,000 
nuts, and I wonder what 
they do with them V 

He propounded the 
problem to the stranger ; 
the latter smiled, and re- 




NICSTS OF THE TODDY-BIKD. 



plied, 



216 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

" Ceylon exports 2,000,000 gallons of cocoa-nut oil, and consumes as 
much more ; it takes forty nuts for a gallon of oil, and thus we dispose 
of the product of 4,000,000 trees. 

" Then there are 5,000,000 trees that produce toddy, which is the 
juice obtained by tapping the base of the buds just before they blossom. 
It is drunk sweet or fermented, but in the latter condition it has intoxi- 
cating qualities that are not at all beneficial. It contains a good deal of 
saccharine matter, and is boiled down sometimes into coarse sugar, and 
sometimes into a sort of cheap molasses. Toddy makes excellent vinegar, 
is used for leavening bread, and is distilled into the spirits called arrack. 
The word ' toddy ' has gone into other languages, and is known in both 
England and America. 

" During the season of gathering the juice of the palm the gatherers 
are greatly disturbed by a small bird that drinks the juice, and calls all 
its friends to share it with him; it is known as the 'toddy-bird,' and his 
nest is shaped somewhat like that of the Baltimore oriole. The bird is 
a social one, and sometimes hundreds of nests will be found together on 
a single tree. 

" We have disposed of the product of 9,000,000 trees, and have 
11,000,000 remaining. Many millions of nuts are annually used as food 
by the natives, either in a green or ripe state, and great numbers are de- 
stroyed by the monkeys and other animals that infest the trees. For mak- 
ing the best qualities of coir-rope the nuts must be gathered when green, 
as the fibres become brittle when old, and the rope is of a poor sort. Then 
there are many millions of nuts exported to other countries, and on the 
whole very little of the product of the forest is allowed to go to waste." 

As they approached Colombo there were occasional glimpses of 
houses among the trees, and the boys were not surprised to learn that 
the cocoa forest was considered a desirable place of residence for the 
foreigners in Colombo who could afford homes out of the. city. Avenues 
of palms led from the road to the dwellings, and in several instances 
there were evidences of liberal expenditure and excellent taste in the 
arrangement of the houses and their surroundings. Seven or eight miles 
from Colombo the planter called the attention of the boys to an island 
that was just visible through the trees, and was separated from the land 
by a very narrow channel. He explained that it was a favorite resort of 
the foreigners in Colombo when they wished to indulge in sea-bathing, 
and that a railway had lately been completed to it. 

It was about eight o'clock in the morning when the coach rolled from 
the edge of the forest and out upon an open space which is used as a 



ENTRANCE TO A COFFEE ESTATE. 



217 




RESIDENCE OF A WEALTHY FOREIGNER. 



218 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



drilling-place for troops, and also for the races in which the residents of 
the city indulge occasionally. On the sea-front of this area the surf was 
breaking, and the pure breeze from the waters was a grateful refresher 
after the ride of the night. As they rose to the crest of the ridge the 
boys came in sight of the red walls of the city; in less than a quarter of 
an hour they were at the door of the principal hotel of Colombo. 




SCENE ON THE COAST NEAR COLOMBO. 



COLOMBO AND ITS HARBOR. 219 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

SIGHTS IN COLOMBO.— RAILWAY JOURNEY TO KANDY. 

COLOMBO consists of two parts, "The Fort" and " The Black Town." 
The Fort includes the foreign quarter : the government offices are 
here, and also the principal hotels and warehouses, as well as the resi- 
dences of the English inhabitants. The Black Town, or Pettah, is made 
up of a mixed population, principally natives and half-castes, with a 
sprinkling of Moormen, Parsees, and other nationalities more or less un- 
certain. The Pettah formerly extended close up to the Fort, but when 
the Dutch were about to be attacked by the English, near the end of the 
last century, they cleared a space of several hundred yards, and it has 
remained clear ever since. 

Our friends took a stroll through the Fort and down to the harbor, 
where they found a miscellaneous collection of ships from the coasts of 
India and Ceylon, and from other parts of the world. The harbor is 
accessible only to small vessels of native construction : foreign ships are 
obliged to lie farther out, and to land and receive their cargoes and pas- 
sengers in lighters and row-boats. When the south-west monsoon is 
blowing the surf rolls unpleasantly from the sea, and the operation of 
landing or embarking is a serious one for nervous persons. A long pier 
or breakwater was begun in 1875, and the authorities promised to have 
it completed within ten years from the date of commencement. When 
finished, it will afford shelter for large ships, and greatly increase the im- 
portance of Colombo. 

Frank asked the Doctor if the place was named for Christopher Co- 
lumbus, the great navigator. 

" Yes and no," was the answer. " It is called Col-amba in the native 
histories as far back as a.d. 496, and an Arabian traveller, in 1344, speaks 
of it as ' Kalambu, the finest town in Serendib.' It kept the name of Ka- 
lambu till the arrival of the Portuguese, who changed it to Colombo in 
honor of the famous Genoese discoverer of America. There has been a 
town or city here for nearly if not quite two thousand years, but it was 



220 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



never of much importance till the Portuguese, and after them the Dutch 
and English, held the island." 

In the course of their promenade the boys discovered that the walls 
of the Fort were nearly two miles in circuit, and of considerable strength 




A BUSINESS STREET IN THE " BLACK TOWN." 

and thickness. The Doctor told thein the Fort was built by the Dutch, 
and had been only slightly altered by the English, but there was a pros- 
pect that the most of the walls would be removed in a few years to make 
way for new buildings. The Fort stands on a promontory between the 
sea and a couple of -lakes, and is consequently a place of great natural 
strength. The houses are solidly built, the streets are lighted with gas, 
and altogether Colombo is far from uncomfortable as a place of residence. 
Numbers of peddlers were in the streets, and the corridor of the hotel 
was crowded with them. They were of the same character as the itiner- 
ant merchants of Singapore and Point de Galle, and quite as persistent in 
offering their wares for sale. The goods were chiefly the products of 
India and Ceylon, and included some very pretty shellwork, carvings in 
ivory, ebony, and sandal-wood ; Indian jewellery, and gems ; the most of 
the latter being the false gems from Point de Galle. The boys were at- 
tracted by the models of Cingalese boats, and after a good deal of bar- 
gaining they bought one to send home. It was of the outrigger pat- 
tern, very much like those of Galle and the eastern coast, but with the 
outrigger larger in proportion to the size of the boat. 



SCENES IN THE BLACK TOWN. 



221 



In the afternoon the Doctor ordered a carriage and went with his 
young companions to the Pettah, or Black Town, and into the open coun- 
try beyond it. They found that the Black Town was laid out with wide 
streets, and had a handsome market-house, under the superintendence of 
an Englishman. The fine display of fruits in the market showed how 
Colombo is favored by its tropical climate, and the varied lot of fish told 
of the wealth of the sea. Frank called the attention of his cousin to sev- 




MOORISH MERCHANTS OF CEYLON. 



eral fishes whose like they had not seen before, and Fred responded by 
pointing out some fresh varieties of fruit. 

They passed stores and large shops that were kept by men with for- 
eign features, but with skins quite as dark as those of the natives. The 



222 THE BOY TEAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

Doctor said these men were descended from the Portuguese, who were 
the first Europeans to settle in Ceylon, and take possession of the coun- 
try. Many of them had accumulated large fortunes, and their houses 
were on a scale that corresponded to the wealth of the owners. Many of 
these houses have fine gardens attached to them, and there are some gar- 
dens that cost many thousands of dollars. The Dutch, who held Ceylon 
after the Portuguese, and before the English occupation, have left a good 
many descendants in Colombo, and nearly all of them are rich and corre- 
spondingly happy. They spend their lives in Ceylon, and never think of 
going to Holland to reside. 

There are a good many half-caste descendants of the Dutch and Port- 
uguese, and where they are not transacting business on their own account, 




A SUBURBAN SCENE. 



they are employed as clerks, either by the Government or by private in- 
dividuals. The Parsees and Moormen are all merchants, and of late years 
they have been forced into competition with the Chinese, who have begun 
to invade Ceylon. 

Frank made the following entries in his note-book : 

" The Cingalese are said to make good house-servants and artisans, but 
they will not do much heavy work. For this purpose men called Tamils 
are imported from Southern India, when they do not come here of their 
own accord, and recently as many as 100,000 have come to Ceylon in a 
single year. They are employed on the coffee and tea plantations, and 
for all sorts of heavy work in the towns; they are larger and stronger 



A MIXED POPULATION. 



223 



than the native Cingalese, and are said to have bad tempers, which get 
them into a great many quarrels. 

" It is funny to see so many varieties of color among the people of 
Colombo. The native Cingalese are of a pure brown, or dark olive ; the 
Malabar negroes are like a piece of charcoal, and the descendants of the 
Portuguese are nearly as black as the men from Malabar. They have 
European features with black faces, and on the other hand the descend- 
ants of the Dutch settlers are very like the English in the color of their 
skins. The Cingalese are slender, and have small feet and hands ; they 
wear their hair long, and tie it in a knot at the back of the head, with a 
tortoise-shell comb to keep it in place. The men have little beards, or 
none at all ; and when I say that the dress of the women is much like that 
of the men, you can readily understand that it is not easy to pick out the 
men from the women in a crowd. A couple of yards of cotton cloth 
wrapped around the waist is the entire dress of a man of the lowest class. 
As you go up in the social scale, you find the only difference in the dress 
is that more and better cloth is used for the ' comboy ' or skirt, with the 




A GKOUr OF TAMIL COOLIES. 



addition of a jacket with a single row of silver buttons in front. The 
height at which the comb is stuck in the hair indicates the caste of the 
owner, and the quality of the comb itself has something to do with it. 
"You don't have any trouble in distinguishing a Cingalese from a 



224 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



Moorman or a Parsee, as the dress tells you at a glance. The Cingalese 
wear nothing on their heads except their hair and the comb, but the 



-^.S 




CINGALESE MEN. 



Moormen cut their hair just as short as possible, and wear little caps of 
straw that fit close to the skull. The Parsees have tall caps without rims, 
the Malabar natives have no caps at all, and the people of European de- 
scent wear the European dress, with hats of pith or cork. Sometimes a 
Cingalese wraps a gay-colored handkerchief around his head ; the women 
cover themselves witli jewellery to an extent that must be inconvenient. 
We saw a woman to-day who had rings on all her toes as well as her 
fingers ; and if her chains, necklaces, bracelets, and anklets were all solid, 
they would have weighed many pounds. Poor people follow the exam- 
ple of the rich — the men by wearing wooden combs, and the women by 
decorating themselves with imitation jewellery made out of sea -shells, 



MARRIAGE CUSTOMS IN CEYLON. 



225 



carved wood, sharks' teeth, and the like, and they sometimes wear two 
or three pounds of glass beads strung into necklaces. 

"The faces of the Cingalese women are quite pretty, but there are 
not many of them that would be called handsome. Doctor Bronson says 
they are usually married by the time they are fourteen years of age, 
and their husbands are only a year or two older. The marriages are 
generally arranged by the parents without consulting the young people : 
the ceremony consists in tying the thumbs or little fingers of the couple 
together, in the presence of several witnesses, and while they are thus 
tied some scented oil is poured over the head of the bride. 

"We went outside the Black Town, and made quite a drive among 
the fields and forests around Colombo. Our driver took us to see the 




CINGALESE WOMEN. 



cinnamon gardens, which were much larger than those of Point de 
Galle, as they covered hundreds of acres, and the trees were kept in 

15 



226 



THE BOY TRAVELLEES IN THE FAR EAST. 




saniiiiiii 




CHEAP COMB. 



much better condition. There are other trees mixed up in the gardens, 
such as cashew, bread-fruit, tamarind, and other tropical growths, and the 

fine roads through the place made our 
ride a pleasant one. The perfume from 
the grove was delicious, and we all re- 
called the words of Bishop Heber about 
' the spicy breezes that blow soft o'er 
Ceylon's isle.' 

"The country back of Colombo has 
a good many water - courses, some of 
them natural and others artificial. There 
are several lakes, but none of any great 
extent, though they are nearly all pret- 
ty in consequence of the rich foliage 
about them. A river with a sluggish current comes down from the 
north, and along its banks there are a great many floating houses, where 
the natives live just as they would on shore. 

"At one place, where we passed a little hut, we saw a coolie standing 
outside and pouring water upon a stone, while he repeated some words 
which of course we could not understand. We thought he was engaged 
in some form of religious worship, and when we asked the driver, he said 
it was so. The man was probably a native of In- 
dia, as this form of saying prayers is quite com- 
mon in certain parts of that country." 

The party went to bed early in order to have 
a good night's sleep, and be ready to start in the 
morning for the centre of the island. The ex- 
press train for Kandy starts at 8 a.m., and conse- 
quently it was necessary to leave the hotel a little 
past seven. The boys found that the train was 
not unlike the one that carried them from Ba- 
tavia to Buitenzorg, in Java ; it was composed 
of carriages of three classes, the same as the Ja- 
vanese trains, the third-class being occupied entire^ 
ly by natives, while the second contained a mixed 
lot of middle-class natives and economical Euro- 
peans. The fares were six, four, and two rupees 

respectively for the different classes, the rupee being worth in round fig- 
ures about fifty cents of our money. The distance between Colombo and 
Kandy is a little more than seventy-two miles. 




CASHEW-NUT. 



FROM COLOMBO TO KANDY. 



227 



It was Fred's turn to keep notes of the journey, and he wrote as 
follows : 

"As the railway leaves Colombo it plunges into a tropical forest, 
and we were constantly surrounded by the most luxuriant vegetation 
we have yet seen. For the first thirty miles or more the country is flat, 
and every little while we dash along the borders of a tiny lake or a marsh 
full of aquatic plants, which are sometimes so thick that they crowd each 
other uncomfortably. These lakes are said to be the homes of crocodiles, 
and certainly they look as though 
a crocodile might be quite com- 
fortable in them, and have enough 
to eat and drink. 

"You can hardly imagine 
how the trees are twisted to- 
gether, and wound with creep- 
ing-plants that sometimes appear 
to have strangled them. The 
underbrush is very dense, and I 
am not surprised to be told that 
you cannot walk more than half 
a mile an hour in an unbroken 
Cingalese forest, as you must cut "^^^^^ 
your way at nearly every step. 

" We saw a few monkeys 
playing among the trees, but 
they are not abundant along the 
line of the railway, and we must 
go farther into the interior if we 
wish to find monkeys in sufficient 
number to pay for the trouble 
of looking at them. Even then 
it will not be easy to get at them, 

as they can see you long before you see them ; and if there is the least 
fear that you mean to do them harm, they dart out of sight as fast as 
their legs will carry them. 

" At Ambepusse station we left the flat country, and began to ascend 
among the mountains. Up and up we went very rapidly, winding among 
the steep hills, and looking down from crags where the descent was al- 
most perpendicular for hundreds of feet. If the train had gone from 
the track and over the edge in any one of a dozen places, it would have 




'^»^v T "'-,;' : - : ■ - 



A COOLIE AT PRATERS. 



228 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



been dashed to pieces in a few seconds. It reminded us of some of the 
points on the Central Pacific Railway in California and Nevada, and es- 
pecially of 'Cape Horn,' where the train stopped a few minutes to let 




THE WILD FOREST. 



us enjoy the scenery. But there was this difference here, that we had 
the trees and plants of the tropics all around us, and the summits of the 
mountains were steeper and sharper than the sierras, although they were 
not as high. 

"A good many travellers have pronounced the railway from Colombo 
to Kandy the most picturesque in the world ; we are not prepared to 
agree with them fully, as there are many railways we have not seen, but 
we are sure it would not be easy to find one to surpass it. Doctor Bron- 
son says the scenery reminds him of that between Philippeville and Con- 
stantine in Algeria, of the Brenner Pass in the Alps, of the Central Pa- 
cific Railway, and of the line from Batavia to Buitenzorg all rolled to- 
gether ; and he adds that the engineering is of the very best class, and 
the men who laid out and built the line deserve a great deal of credit. 



SIGHTS IN THE CAPITAL OF CEYLON. 229 

"As we left the low country, and ascended among the mountains, we 
found that the air became cooler and purer the higher we went. We 
crossed the summit of the pass at an elevation of 2000 feet, and then 
descended 200 feet to Kandy. The scenery on one side of the moun- 
tains is about the same as on the other, and. the whole range of hills in 
the centre of Ceylon seems to have been shaken up in a very lively way, 
and then cooled off just as it was. In whatever way we looked there 
were hills and valleys, and the slopes were generally so steep that they 
would not be at all easy to climb. 

" We went to the Queen's Hotel in Kandy, and thought from its 
name that the establishment ought to be a fine one; but we. think that 
if the queen knew what kind of a hotel is being kept in her name, she 
would order it changed : the house is dirty and uncomfortable, and the 
table the very perfection of badness. The proprietor says it is difficult 
to get good cooks in Kandy, and we believe him, for the ones he has are 
certainly very far from being good. In all the rooms there are notices 
that no credit can be allowed, and all patrons are expected to settle their 
bills before they leave the house. Doctor Bronson asked why these no- 
tices were put up, and they told him that the coffee-planters frequently 
come to the hotel and go away without paying their bills, and a good deal 
of money had been lost by trusting them. 

"Kandy is quite prettily situated among the hills, and it looks as 
though a considerable amount of money had been spent on making it 
attractive. There is an artificial lake that has a road all around, it where 
people go for their afternoon drives, and there is a small mountain just 
back of the town with a road winding around it, with shade-trees nearly 
all the way to protect you from the sun. We took a stroll there this 
afternoon, and found it delightful ; every few hundred yards there are 
seats where you may sit and look at the scenery, and from some of the 
points you can look for miles over the lovely valleys and the hills cov- 
ered with trees clear up to their summits. 

"Kandy is the capital of Ceylon, and it is to this fact that it owes the 
great number of charming walks and drives; nearly every road and path 
bears the name of Lady Somebodj^. or other, and there are so many of 
them that the list becomes tiresome after a while. But if the people 
whose names are thus preserved gave the money for making the roads 
and paths, I suppose we ought not to complain, as they have added very 
much to the attractions of Kandy. The place was favored by nature in 
supplying it with an abundance of tropical vegetation, and so there was 
an opportunity to spend money to good advantage." 



230 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST„ 



CHAPTER XIX. 

AROUND KANDY.— BOTANICAL GARDENS AND COFFEE PLANTATIONS.— 
ADVENTURES WITH SNAKES. 

TAOCTOR BRONSON had a letter of introduction to Mr. Walker, a 
-*S merchant of Kandy, and delivered it on the morning after their 
arrival. He was cordially welcomed by that gentleman, and invited to 
visit the botanical gardens as a preliminary to breakfast, and also to take 
the two youths on the excursion. The botanical gardens are some two 
miles or more from the town, and there is a good road thither which 
forms a pleasant drive. 

On the way to the gardens Mr. Walker told the strangers something 
about the place they were about to visit. He said the Botanic Garden 
of Ceylon was first established near Colombo, in 1799, but the locality 
proved unsuitable, and it was moved to two or three places in succession, 
and finally came to Kandy about sixty years ago. It had been carefully 
kept, and the expenditures for it had resulted in the- creation of one of 
the finest open-air gardens in the world. 

While he was giving them some of the details concerning it they 
arrived at the entrance, and passed within the gates. Magnificent col- 
lections of palms of different kinds, bamboos with trunks a foot in diam- 
eter, and growing in great clusters, as though a dozen of them came from 
a single root, green and flowering plants almost without number, nutmeg 
and cinnamon trees, tea and coffee plants, and hundreds of other botanical 
curiosities were passed in rapid succession. Mr. Walker called attention 
to the palms for which Ceylon is celebrated, and described their pecu- 
liarities. " You doubtless know all about the cocoa-nut palm," said he, 
" as you have just come from the sea-coast where it flourishes, but the 
Palmyra palm may be new to you. It is to the north of Ceylon what the 
cocoa-nut palm is to the south, as it furnishes food, clothing, and shelter 
to the inhabitants." 

One of the boys asked if it bore the same kind of fruit as the trees of 
the sea-coast. 



THE PALMYRA PALM. 231 

" There is a resemblance between the products of the two trees," was 
the reply, " but they are not the same. The Palmyra grows to seventy 
or eighty feet high, and the stem is nearly always straight, and ends in a 
tuft of fan-shaped leaves, with clusters of fruit as large as a cocoa-nut, but 
rounder. There are six or seven of these clusters, with ten to twenty 
fruit in a cluster, and each fruit contains three seeds or kernels filled with 
a white pulp that is eaten fresh, or can be dried and kept for any length 
of time. If the kernels are planted, they throw off sprouts the size of 




YOUNG PALMS IN THE BOTANIC GARDEN. 



parsnips; these sprouts can be eaten fresh, or dried in the sun, and the 
natives make various dishes from them, and also an excellent farina which 
forms the food of a great many people. 

" The timber is very valuable, as it is one of the few woods the white 
ants will not eat, and it is used for a great many purposes ; the leaves are 
fashioned into many useful things, and the chief use of the tree is for 
producing the coarse sugar that is made from its juice, in the same man- 



232 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



ner as from the cocoa-nut palm. It is a curious circumstance that the 
two trees will not flourish in the same region, and that both are nearly 
equally valuable to mankind. In the neighborhood of Jaffna, in the 
north of the island, there are more than six millions of these Palmyra- 
trees, and they support a great number of people." 

Many of the palm-trees in the gardens were covered with vines and 
creeping plants ; one of them, known as the beetle-vine, was full of bright 
blossoms that made a sharp contrast to the dark -green foliage. There 




INDIA-RUBBEU-TREE. 



were several specimens of the India -rubber -tree, and Frank remarked 
that one of them reminded him of an American elm, with its wide- 
spreading branches, and its apparent fondness for the house near which 
it stood. 

They had a pleasant stroll through the gardens, which cover an area 
of about one hundred and forty acres, and are beautifully laid out from 
one end to the other. A little river flows through the centre of the 
gardens, and in several places it has been widened into pools tilled with 
aquatic plants. Altogether, the excursion of the morning was crowded 



A COFFEE-PLANTERS HOUSE. 



233 




234 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



with interest and instruction, and the boys returned to Kandy full of 
delight with what they had seen and heard. 

After breakfast the party remained in-doors for several hours, partly 
on account of the mid-day heat, and partly in consequence of a shower 



m* 




VIEW ON A COFFEE ESTATE. 



of rain that came without warning. In the afternoon they went to see 
a coffee plantation belonging to the brother of their entertainer, and to 
learn something of the coffee culture of Ceylon. Here is the result of 
their observations : 

"Kandy is the centre of the coffee culture of Ceylon; coffee grows 
at an elevation of 1800 feet and more, and the centre of the island has 
been found well adapted to it. There are now about 1200 plantations— 
they call them estates here — of an average extent of 250 acres each. 
Coffee land is very dear: a good' plantation, with the trees bearing, ev- 
erything in proper condition, and well situated, is worth $500 an acre. 
Wild and uncleared land is worth $65 an acre, and the man who takes 
it must be at the expense of clearing and planting, and can expect no 
returns under six years. Much money has been made in the business, 
just as it has been made in America by raising sugar and cotton ; and, 



COFFEE CULTURE IN CEYLON. 235 

on the other hand, much money has been lost. There are many men in 
Ceylon who are poorer to-day than they were ten years ago, in conse- 
quence of their losses in the coffee business, and if any young man in 
America has' an ambition to come here to make a fortune by cultivating 
coffee, he had better stay at home. 

"Most of the coffee-planters are young Englishmen, with money or 
moneyed friends, who come or are sent to Ceylon to make their fortunes. 
The balance are generally the representatives of wealthy firms or indi- 
viduals in Colombo, and owe their positions to personal influence or the 
advancement of a few thousands by way of security. An insight into 
the business may be obtained by glancing at the advertising columns 
of the Ceylon Observer, a newspaper published at Colombo. One firm 
advertises that it will make advances on crops not yet gathered, and an- 
other offers to make contracts for consignments. A man with money to 
lend desires a situation as manager of a coffee estate, and another who 
can control consignments wishes a similar place. We are told that 
nearly every house in Colombo is interested, one way and another, in the 
coffee estates, generally through advances made on the growing crops. 

" The system is much like that which prevailed in the Southern 
United States before the war, when the cotton-planter on the Mississippi 
River received advances from his factor in New Orleans, so that when 
his crop was gathered nearly all the proceeds were required to pay the 
debts that had been accumulated during the year. 

" The factor in Colombo furnishes the provisions necessary for the es- 
tate, and charges a good commission for his trouble. He supplies the 
tools and machinery for the use of the planter, and provides money for 
employing the laborers engaged in the cultivation. By the time the 
crop comes in a large debt has been created, and if the yield is good 
and the market is up, nobody has any occasion to complain. But of late 
years the prices have been so low that nobody has made anything, and 
many plantations have been kept up at a loss. 

" Coffee culture in Ceylon and Java are pretty much alike, as the 
plant is the same, and the machinery for collecting the crop and prepar- 
ing it for market is managed on a similar principle. The plant is raised 
from the seed, and begins to bear when it is six years old, and has at- 
tained the size of a large currant-bush. The berries are like large cher- 
ries, and are gathered by hand ; they are run through a machine which 
separates the bean from the husk, and allows the former to settle to the 
bottom of a tank of water, while the latter are floated away through a 
trough. The beans are then dried in the sun, or by a fire if the weather 



236 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 




PLANTATION LABOREUS 



is cloudy, and when sufficiently cured they are put in sacks and sent to 
Colombo. Here they are sorted and again dried, so as to fit them for 
transportation to England or America. It is in the condition in which 
it left Colombo when the merchants get it in New York." 

While they were going through the buildings where the coffee-berries 
were crushed, and the beans separated from the husks, Fred suddenly 
stooped, and then sprung back as though greatly alarmed. 

Calling out. " Snake ! snake !" at the top of his voice, he seized a stick 
that was lying on the floor, and proceeded to kill the object of his fright. 
As he raised the stick his hand was seized by Mr. Walker; the latter 
smiled and said, 

" The snake is perfectly harmless, and one of our pets. Don't kill 
him." 

Fred gave an inquiring look at the face of his host to see if he was 
in earnest ; satisfied that he was, he lowered his arm and took a second 
look at the snake, who did not seem at all frightened at the presence of 
strangers. 

The reptile was about five feet long, and of an olive -brown color. 
Mr. Walker said the scientific name for this snake is Pytas muscosus, 
and there was a snake in India that closely resembled him, and frequently 
grew -to seven feet in length. "We keep them .about our houses and 



PERFORMANCE OF THE RAT-SNAKE. 



237 



other buildings," said he, "as you keep cats in America, and for the 
same purpose — to kill the rats. They are entirely harmless to us, but 
a deadly foe to rats; they go around the roofs and ceilings at night, and 
you will frequently hear a lively struggle going on between a rat and 
a snake. As the ceilings are often nothing but mats spread over poles, 
the combatants sometimes fall through, and when this happens in the 
presence of a person newly arrived in the country it is apt to disturb 
his nerves." 

To show the powers of the snake the gentleman said something to, 
one of the attendants, who immediately went out, and soon returned with 
a wire trap containing a live rat. The snake was instantly all excite- 
ment, and showed the impatience of a terrier to get at his prey. The 
trap was opened, and the rat released in the middle of the floor; the 
snake darted upon him with the rapidity of a flash, and in an .instant 
snake and rat were struggling and rolling over eacli other in deadly con- 
flict. In less than a minute the fight was over, and the snake was the 
victor. 

" The rats are a great annoyance to the coffee-planter," said the gen- 
tleman, "and we gladly welcome any means of getting rid of them. "We 
have several varieties, but the worst is the one we call the coffee-rat ; he 
is about four inches long, with stiff, reddish -brown hair, and he makes 
his nest in the buildings or under the roots of trees. These rats climb 
the coffee-trees and eat the buds and blossoms, and they enter the houses 
and eat the berries while they are being cured. They go from one place 



3S& £3 X*i - 




238 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



to another in great swarms, and some plantations have been actually de- 
stroyed by them; a thousand have been killed on an estate in twenty- 
four hours, and sometimes they are so numerous that we offer rewards 
for killing them. But we never let a reward cover a period of more 
than a month or two ; once it was given for a whole year, and we found 
that the natives had developed a new industry, and were raising rats in 
great numbers for the sake of the reward. 

"The snakes, the cats, and the Malabar coolies are our best friends 
in getting rid of the rats ; the snakes and the cats kill them for the love 
of doing so, and the coolies do it for, the sake of food. They fry the rats 




PLEASURES OF A MORNING WALK. 



in oil, and pronounce them a great delicacy ; and when they have more 
rats than they can dispose of fresh, they dry them by smoking over a 
fire, the same as you dry bacon in America." 

The conversation naturally turned upon snakes, and the boys were 
not quite pleased to learn that Kandy was infested with venomous rep- 
tiles, and they were not unlikely to encounter one at any moment. Frank 
thought he should be careful about his mornino- walks in future, and 
Fred endorsed his cousin's opinion. Their host told them that the largest 
snake of Ceylon was the boa or rock-snake, and that happily he was per- 
fectly harmless, like his friend whose performance they had just wit- 
nessed. Altogether, there are about fifty varieties of snakes in Ceylon, 



THE COBEA-DI-CAPELLO. 239 

nearly all of them being harmless to man ; eight varieties live in trees, 
two belong to fresh water, and there are seven or eight sea-snakes. The 
most dangerous snakes are four in number — the cobra, the tic-polonga, the 
carawalla, and the green caravvalla. 

" The cobra," said he, " is the worst and most dangerous of all, and 
unfortunately he is sociable in his nature, and likes to come around 
houses ; if one is killed near a house, his companion is sure to be seen 
in an hour or so looking for him. These snakes generally try to get out 
of the way, and do not bite unless trodden on or irritated ; they like to 
wander around at night, and most of the accidents with them occur from 
their nocturnal habits. 

" They have a puff of skin on each side of the neck which they in- 
flate when enraged, and thus add to their naturally horrid appearance. 
From this circumstance they were named by the Portuguese the cobra- 
di-capello — cobra with a hood — on account of the general resemblance of 
the puff of skin to a hood. Many have a pair of spectacles on the back 
of the hood, and their general color is black. Jugglers tame them, and 
play with them without apparent fear, and there are indications that the 
snakes have some attachment for their masters, and learn to obey them. 

" The tic-polonga, as he is called in the native language, is from four 
to five feet long, and has a thicker body than the cobra, but no hood. He 
is of a dark gray color, and rather difficult to rouse into anger; luckily, 
his movements are slow, and it is easy enough to get out of his way, if 
you know where he is. The snake-charmers are more afraid of him than 
of the cobra, as he is not as easy to manage, and his poison acts more 
promptly on the system. Birds and rats die instantly when bitten by 
these serpents, and their bites are nearly always fatal to men if the poi- 
son is fairly introduced into a wound." 

Doctor Bronsoh asked their host if he had ever seen these serpents 
attacked by hawks or eagles ; the answer was in the negative, and then 
the Doctor told how he once witnessed a fight between an American 
hawk and a mocasson snake or adder. The bird seized the snake, and 
rose with him in the air ; he was probably a hundred feet from the 
ground, when suddenly the hawk threw back his head and fell as though 
he had been shot. 

The Doctor ran to the spot, and found that the snake had bitten the 
hawk in the throat, and killed him with his poison. But the grip of the 
bird was firm, and the snake was fixed in the sharp claws, so that he could 
not get away, and speedily died from the wound. 

"We have a snake in Ceylon," the host remarked, "that lives er.- 



240 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



tirely on other snakes, especially cobras. He is entirely harmless to man, 
and you may be sure we treat him kindly, and encourage his presence 









FIGHT BETWEEN A HAWK AND A SNAKE. 

around our premises. He is called 'raja-samp' by the natives, and his 
scientilic name is Bungarus fasciatus. There is also a large hooded 
snake in India, but rarely seen in Ceylon, that is a great devourer of 
snakes, and he will swallow his own brother as readily as any other 
serpent." 

" We have no snakes in America," replied the Doctor, " that live on 
their kindred, but there are several of our reptiles that show a great 



A BATTLE OF SNAKES. 



241 



hatred for each other. For example, the rattlesnake and the common 
black snake of the Eastern States are far from friendly, and when they 
meet there is pretty sure to be a battle. The rattlesnake coils itself for 
a spring, while the black snake moves rapidly from side to side to dis- 
tract the attention of its antagonist, and to bewilder him. Finally the 
rattler settles down with his head in the air and his mouth open, and 
then the other moves rapidly in a circular direction, and prepares to close 
the preliminaries by coming to the work. 

" The rattler is bewildered in attempting to follow the movements 
of the black snake ; the latter sees his chance and darts at the throat of 



mm 

MM 

i! 



■Mr- 



"W 





FIGHT BETWEEN A BLACK SNAKE AND A RATTLESNAKE. 



his adversary, and at the same time encircles him in his folds. The black 
snake is a constrictor, which the other is not, and as soon as the grip is 



242 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

made his powers of constriction are exercised. He winds about the rat- 
tlesnake, and every moment draws his folds more tightly. The latter 
has no chance to use his fangs, and the combat in nineteen cases out of 
twenty results in favor of the black snake. Evidently he fights from 
pure love of combat, for he does not attempt to eat his fallen foe." 

On their return to Kandy our friends went to see the great curiosity 
for which the place is celebrated — a tooth of the founder of the Buddhist 
religion. 

This wonderful relic is kept in a temple dedicated to Buddha, and 
guarded by priests of the religion of the Far East. Near the centre of 
.the temple there is a room about twelve feet square, with no windows, 
and only a single narrow door ; the atmosphere is hot and damp in con- 
sequence of the lack of ventilation, and the mass of jasmine, lotos, and 
other flowers that are brought there daily as offerings to the deity of the 
temple. Whenever visitors come to the temple the priests assemble, and 
consequently the room becomes crowded to an unpleasant degree. This 
was the state of things when our friends entered. 

One of the priests who spoke English acted as guide, and sent a com- 
panion to bring the key of the shrine that contained the relic. This 
shrine was of the shape of a bell, and stood on a solid silver table in the 
centre of the apartment ; inside of the shrine was a smaller one of the 
same shape, and then another and another, and finally, in the last and 
smallest, the tooth was displayed resting on a golden lotos flower. Great 
reverence was shown to the relic by the priests that were standing around^ 
and all seemed glad of the coming of visitors, as it gave them an oppor- 
tunity to see the object they prized so highly. 

The boys thought Buddha must have been a man of more than gi. 
gantic size if the relic really belonged to him, as it is nearly two inches 
long, and resembles the tooth of a crocodile much more than that of a 
man. ISTo one is permitted to touch it ; but for several years after the 
capture of Kandy by the British the tooth was in their possession, and 
during that time it was carefully examined. It was pronounced nothing 
but a piece of ivory which had become yellow with age, and possibly 
from lying so long on the golden lotos. The latter is a very pretty work 
of art, and an excellent representation of the lotos flower as it appears 
on the walls of Egyptian and Indian temples. 

This tooth has a curious history. According to the Buddhist chroni- 
cles, it was secured at the funeral of Buddha and carried to a temple in 
India, where it was kept 800 years. Then there was a war for its posses- 
sion, and the king who held it sent his daughter with it to Ceylon : she 



ADVENTURES OF BUDDHA'S TOOTH. 



243 




concealed it in the tresses of her hair, and was wrecked on the coast of 
India, where the tooth was buried for several days in the sand. Then a 
new ship was obtained, the tooth 
was dug up, and the journey to 
Ceylon completed. 

The relic was kept in Ceylon a 
couple of hundred years, and then 
it went back to India, only to re- 
turn again in a century or so to 
Ceylon. It has been moved about 
repeatedly — has been to China and 
Burmah, and there is a Portuguese 
account that it was destroyed by 
them, the viceroy himself pound- 
ing it in a mortar, burning the 
powdered bone in a brazier, and 
then throwing the ashes into the 
river. The account of its destruc- 
tion is given in detail by several 
historians, but the priests of Kan- 
<\y say it is entirely false, and the 
tooth was never in the possession 
of the Portuguese. It is pretty 
certain they destroyed something which they supposed to be the tooth, 
as it is a matter of history that the King of Pegu, on learning that the 
Portuguese were in possession of the relic, sent an embassy to negotiate 
for it, and offered a sum equal to a quarter of a million dollars for it, 
which was refused. 

There was another relic of Buddha formerly exhibited in Ceylon — 
the bowl that he carried for the collection of offerings. All begging 
saints carry a bowl for the receipt of alms, generally a cocoa-nut shell. 
The one in question had wonderful properties ; a poor man could fill it 
with a few flowers, but a rich man could not do so with 100, 1000, or 
even 10,000 bushels of rice ! An army could drink from it without ex- 
hausting it, or even reducing the quantity of liquid it contained. The 
Mohammedans say that this bowl belonged to Adam, the father of man- 
kind, when he lived in Ceylon, and descended from him to Buddha. It 
passed through many countries, having visited India, Persia, several prov- 
inces of India, and also China and Thibet. The trace of it has been lost 
for several centuries. 




THE LOTOS 1'LOWEK. 



244 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

As they left the temple, after paying the priest for showing them the 
sacred relic, one of the boys asked if Buddhism was the only religion in 
Ceylon. 

"Not by any means," answered the Doctor.. "According to history, 
Buddha had a great deal of trouble in converting the Cingalese, as they 
were very ardent idolaters, and addicted to the worship of trees aud ser- 
pents. Portions of the ancient faith still continue in the universal dread 
that the Cingalese have of killing a cobra ; they will not destroy it with 
a blow from a stick or stone, but they put it in a bag and throw it in a 
river, so that it can have a chance of escape. Until very recently there 
was a temple at Jaffna dedicated to the snake goddess, and maintained 
by some of the descendants of the idolatrous priesthood. 

"The Cingalese," the Doctor continued, "have great faith in demons, 
and every village has its demon-priest who lives upon the fears of the 
people. Everything that goes wrong is ascribed to the demons ; and if 
a man falls sick or is injured, the priest is called to drive away the evil 
spirit that has caused the trouble. 

" The most numerous demons are the yakkoes, who are supposed to 
live in old trees, and for this reason the natives will not have any old 
trees near their dwellings. They also set aside the fruit of certain trees 
in their gardens for the use of the demons, and sometimes a portion of 
the rice crop in a field is left ungathered for the same purpose. There 
is a general belief in sorcery and witchcraft, especially in the north ot 
the island : the most of the native doctors are sorcerers, and when they 
cannot perform a cure with medicines they resort to incantations." 



INLAND TRAVEL IN CEYLON. 245 



CHAPTER XX. 

TRAVELLING IN CEYLON.— WILD ELEPHANTS AND THEIR HABITS.— EN- 
COUNTER WITH A BUFFALO.— FROM KANDY TO NEWERA-ELLIA. 

A DAY was devoted to letter-writing, and to drives and walks around 
Kandy, and then the boys asked the Doctor where they were to 
go next. 

" There are two or three routes from which to choose," was the reply, 
" and each has its own peculiar advantages, or the reverse, i have been 
considering them, and have selected the one that gives us the most to see 
in the little time we have at our disposal. We will start to-morrow morn- 
ing for ISTewera-Ellia, which is on the road to Adam's Peak." 

"Perhaps we will climb the peak," exclaimed Frank, " and repeat our 
experience of Fusiyama in Japan." 

" Perhaps I" echoed Fred ; " but we won't be certain of it till we have 
done it. But please tell us about the other routes you thought of," he 
added, addressing himself to Doctor Bronson. 

"I had thought of going," responded the Doctor, "to some point on 
the eastern coast, and there taking a steamer for India; meantime I would 
have ordered our heavy baggage sent around by water, so that it would 
meet us on arrival. There are several of these places, and the towns and 
the routes leading to them are pretty much alike. The most important 
and interesting is Trincomalee — pronounced Trink-o-ma-Z<?6 — which you 
can find on the. map by drawing a line nearly due north-east from 
Kandy." 

The boys had a map of Ceylon before them, and by following the 
Doctor's instructions they speedily found the place he had mentioned. 

" You observe," he continued, " that it is quite a distance from Kan- 
dy to Trincomalee, and there is no railway to carry us. We should be 
obliged to travel by the ordinary roads of the country ; conveyance 
would be difficult to obtain, and our fare not of the best. We should 
have a tiresome journey of several days through the forests and swamps 
of the eastern part of Ceylon, and I doubt if the novelty of the scenery 



246 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

would repay us. The same would be practically the case if we went to 
Jaffna or Kalpentyn, other places that I had in mind — and, besides, we 
might wait some time there before finding a steamer to take us where 
we wish to go." 

"Well," answered one of the boys, with a laugh, " please tell us about 
Trincomalee and what we might see on the way there, and then we shall 
be all ready for Kewera-Ellia." 

" Trincomalee is a town of about 20,000 inhabitants," responded the 
Doctor, "and stands on one of the finest bays in Asia, if not in the world. 
It would be a place of great importance on account of the magnificent 
port, if the country back of it amounted to anything ; but, unfortunately, 
the region for a long distance is marshy and nearly useless, and so the 
tine harbor of Trincomalee is of no consequence*. Moreover it is quite 
unhealthy, owing to the malaria from the swamps ; and it is a common re- 
mark in Ceylon that when the Government wishes to get rid of its sol- 
diers, it sends them to Trincomalee to die of fever. 

"As to what you could see on the way I might name several things. 
We should see a tropical forest in all its glory, and make a practical ac- 
quaintance with the trees by resting in their shadows, and perhaps climb- 
ing their trunks through the aid of the parasitic plants that cover them. 
There is one tree a few miles out of Kandy which is the remainder' of 
quite a cluster that formerly stood there. All the rest have been killed 
by the parasites, and this one, the last of the giants, is completely covered, 
and cannot stand many years longer. 

"Then we should pass some of the tanks for which Ceylon is famous, 
or, rather, for which she was famous centuries ago." 

One of the boys asked what these tanks were, and the Doctor ex- 
plained their nature. 

"Rice will not grow without water, and in ancient times a system 
was adopted of making artificial ponds or tanks to retain water that 
could be used in the seasons when the rains were not falling. The first 
of these ponds of which we have any record was built by one of the 
kings of Ceylon 437 years before our era, or more than 2300 years ago. 
It became the fashion for kings to build tanks for the benefit of their 
people, and at one time there was a great number of them ; two kings are 
said to have built sixteen tanks each, and the fashion of building them 
continued more than a thousand years. 

"Some were built in. the level country, and others among the hills; 
many still remain, but the greater number are in ruins and quite use- 
less. The engineers who built them became famous, and in the eighth 



A TREE COVERED WITH PARASITES. 



247 




THE LAST OF THE GIANTS. 



248 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



century the Bajah of Cashmere sent to Ceylon for engineers to con- 
struct tanks for him. 




TANK SCENE IN CEYLON. 



" The largest of these works in Ceylon is the great tank of Kalewera, 
which was built 1400 years ago. It is now in ruins and useless, but 
enough of it remains to show what it was originally; it is supposed to 
have been forty miles in circumference, and had an embankment of 
stone twelve miles long. There was another tank twenty miles in cir- 
cumference, which was formed by damming a small stream with an em- 
bankment nearly two miles long and sixty feet wide ; but, like most of 
the others, it -is now useless. 

" The Government has recently expended a great deal of money in 
repairing some of the ancient tanks. In 1867 they restored the old reg- 
ulations of the kings of Ceylon relative to the use of water, the preser- 
vation of the embankments, and the settlement of disputes that are liable 
to arise. The English law-makers who examined these regulations said 
it would be very difficult to improve upon them; and as they were suited 
to the wants and habits of the natives, they were re-enacted in a body. 

" So much for the tanks of Ceylon. Another novelty that we might 
enjoy in the journey to the coast would be the possible sight of a troop 
of wild elephants, as we should go through the region over which these 
great animals wander " 



PECULIARITIES OF ELEPHANT-HUNTING. 



249 



" That would be a sight worth seeing," one of the boys answered ; 
"but the subject of elephants is not a new one, as yon know we visited 
the elephant hunting-ground in Siam, and heard all about the mode of 
catching the game." 

" Quite right," replied the Doctor ; " but, while we are about it, I 
may as well tell you some things about elephant -hunting here that we 
did not learn in Siam, because they are peculiar to Ceylon. In Siam 




they hunt by driving into the corral, 
as we saw, but in Ceylon they not only 
have the corral system, but a mode of 
hunting by PanickeasT 

The boys opened their eyes, and 
asked what the Panickea was. Was 
it something to eat or wear, or was it 
a weapon to be used in killing the 
game ? 
"You are wrong in each guess," said Doctor Bronson ; "the Panickea 
is a professional elephant-hunter, and his people have followed the busi- 
ness from time immemorial. He has the skill and cunning of the North 
American Indian or any other wily savage, and possesses a great deal 
of bravery, which is frequently called into use in his profession. The 
Panickeas live in the northern and north-eastern parts of Ceylon, and 



ELEPHANTS AT HOME. 



250 



THE BOY TKAVELLEES IN THE FAR EAST. 



when not engaged at their time-honored business they devote themselves 
to fishing, or the pursuit of other game than the elephant, or they hire 
out as guides and servants to foreigners. 




TYING UP AN ELEPHANT. 



" Two of these men will go on an elephant-hunt armed only with a 
few strong ropes of different sizes. They track the elephant through the 
forest or in the long grass of the open plain, and steal up to him with 
the agility of cats, and without being seen. The elephant has a habit of 
swinging one of his hind-legs when standing still ; they take advantage 
of this circumstance to slip a noose over his leg; and if he is not swing- 
ing it they tickle him, as though a fly were biting, and thus induce him 
to make the desired movement. 

"As soon as they have noosed his leg they dart from under his feet; 
if they are in the forest, one of them takes a quick turn of the rope 
around a tree, but if in the open country, they drop it and run toward 
the nearest woods. The elephant pursues them, trailing the rope after 
him, and as soon as they are in the shelter of the trees they manage to 
secure him in the way I have described. Then, while he is tied by the 
hind-leg, one of the men worries him and attracts his attention, while 
the other slips a noose around one of his fore-legs. Then he lies down 
and rolls in anger, and while he is doing it they bind him still more. 



GREAT SLAUGHTER OF ELEPHANTS. 



251 



" When he is tied up and safe they leave him, and he is subdued by 
the process that we learned about in Siam. Great numbers of elephants 
were formerly caught in this way and sent to India, where there has al- 
ways been a good market for them, and they are also largely employed 
on public works in Ceylon. When the. English obtained possession of 
this country, elephants were so numerous that as many as 200 could be 
taken at a single drive in a corral, and the beasts did great damage to 
the rice crops in the part of the country where they lived. A reward 
was offered for all elephants killed, and so great was the slaughter that 
the bounty was paid for 3500 killed in the north of Ceylon in the years 
1846-'4S, and for 2000 killed in the southern part in the five years pre- 
vious to 1S56. 

" This wholesale destruction made such a scarcity that not enough 
elephants could be obtained for the public works, and the Government 
not only took off the bounty but ordered that no more licenses to shoot 
elephants should be granted. 

" Elephants generally travel in herds varying from half a dozen to 
a hundred or more ; but it is not unusual to find solitary elephants that 
have become separated from the herds from causes that are yet unknown 
to anybody. These soli- 
tary elephants are known jllfc 1 j ilhi^ 
as " rogues ;" the name de- ^^^^' .?" Jlllil Up 
scribes their character, and 
is an exact translation of 
the Cingalese ' hora-alliah ' 
or thieving elephant. They 
don't even associate with 
other rogues, but travel 
singly, and do all the mis- 
chief they can ; nearly all 
the damage to crops is H A 
caused by them, and some 



of them delight in con- 
cealing themselves near the 
roads and paths, and kill- 
ing men who attempt to 
pass. They are very hard 
fighters, and the glory of killing a rogue elephant is greater than that 
of slaughtering a whole herd of ordinary ones. 

" Another game animal that we might encounter on our way to the 



■M^ 





ELEPHANTS UNDER A BANYAN-TREE. 



252 



THE BOY TEAVELLEES IN THE FAE EAST. 



coast is the buffalo. Remember, the buffalo of Ceylon is no relative of 
the American buffalo, but is quite a different animal. He is domesti- 
cated, and used for ploughing and other heavy work, just as he is in the 
Philippine Islands and other parts of the East we have visited. He is 
docile enough when tame, but when wild he shows a good deal of ugli- 
ness not only in his appearance bnt in his disposition. 

" There are many herds of wild buffaloes in the northern and north- 
eastern parts of the island, and they prefer the open country to the for- 
ests; during the daytime they like to lie in the mud or in pools of water, 




A NATIVE TREED BY A BUFFALO COW AND CALF. 



and are generally to be found around the old tanks in the lower parts 
of the country. They get into the water with only their heads visible, 
and if they can find a mud-bank to roll in when water is scarce, they are 
quite well satisfied. ' When a herd is disturbed, and there is a possibility 
of danger, they draw up in line with some of the oldest in front, and 
when they get in this position it is an even chance whether they will 
advance or retreat. They often rush at the natives when the latter are 
not looking for them, and more natives are killed by the buffaloes than 
by all other kinds of wild animals put together. 

" I once saw a native driven up a tree by a buffalo cow and calf, but 



A FIGHT WITH A BUFFALO. 



253 



he was not altogether unoffending in the business, as he had fired at the 
cow and wounded her. He just managed to keep clear of her horns and 
seize a lower limb of the tree; he clung to his gun, and as soon as he 
got safely among the limbs he reloaded and shot his pursuer. The calf 
remained, and he fastened a rope to its neck and with some difficulty 
dragged it home. 

" The same day I was pursuing a buffalo that tried to escape by swim- 
ming a small pond. I ran around the head of the pond so as to meet 
him when he came out of the water, and had just entered it when lie 
struck the solid ground. I tired when he was about twenty yards away, 
and put a bullet into his shoulder, which was the best spot I could aim 
at as he stood. I followed it with another bullet in the other shoul- 
der, and with the same effect ; the blood flowed steadily from both the 
wounds, but he did not show the slightest inclination to fall ; on the con- 
trary, he stood there and faced me, and made ready to charge. I felt for 
another cartridge to finish him with, or at all events to keep him where 
he was. To my horror, I found that I had no more cartridges about 
me, and my servants who carried my guns and ammunition were at least 
half a mile away. 

"I dared not turn around to run, as my doing so would have been 




A DANGEROUS PREDICAMENT. 



254 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

the signal for him to pursue me, and if he did, I had not the slightest 
chance of escape from being gored and trampled to death. I saw my 
gun-bearer coming, but he was still far off, and the brute was making 
ready for a charge. Men must think quickly under snch circumstances, 
and my wits came to my aid. 

" I had some loose powder in a flask, and a handful of small coins 
that would just go into the muzzle of the gun. Lucidly the coins were 
in a rouleau, just as you see gold in a banking-house ; it took me only a 
few seconds to drop in a heavy charge of powder and the roll of coins 
on top, and the moment he rushed on me I fired. 

" The load struck him full in the face and stunned him ; the instant 
I fired I turned and ran for a tree about a hundred yards away, and the 
time gained by bewildering him with the shot was just enough, without a 
second to spare. He stood near the foot of the tree and watched me for 
some time, the blood pouring from the two wounds I had made in his 
shoulders ; after a while one of my attendants crept through the grass 
and passed my rifle to me, with a lot of fresh cartridges, and I was soon 
abie to finish the brute. Sir Samuel Baker had a similar experience 
while hunting in Ceylon ; in fact, it was so nearly like mine that the two- 
stories have sometimes been mistaken for each other. 

"And now that you know what might be seen on the road to Trin- 
comalee," said Doctor Bronson, rising from his chair, "we will get ready 
for Newera-Ellia. We go there partly by rail, and partly by carriage- 
road ; the train starts at seven o'clock, and leaves the main line at the 
first station from Kandy. The branch carries us to Gampola, and there 
we leave the train and take a carriage the rest of the way." 

The} 7 were off the next morning, according to the programme ; the 
railway only carried them a dozen or fifteen miles, and then they mount- 
ed what was called a coach, though it was really nothing more than a 
strong wagon, adapted to the rough roads of the mountains. The first 
part of the ride took them through a series of rice-fields, coffee planta- 
tions, and native villages of huts thatched with palm-leaves : they had 
an opportunity of seeing the native children playing before the doors 
in all the glory of nothing to wear. 

Up and up went the road, and after a time the coffee estates gave 
way to tea plantations. The Doctor told the boys that coffee in Cey- 
lon grows at any elevation between 1800 and 4000 feet, and tea flour- 
ishes between 4000 and 6000 feet. Tea culture in Ceylon is in its in- 
fancy, and most of those who have tried it have found it unprofitable; 
but they are persevering, and feel confident that it will turn out all right. 



A HOUSE IN CEYLON. 



255 




256 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

The tea-planters say they have the same climate as Java, and if the latter 
can produce tea to advantage, there is no reason why it should not be 
profitable in Ceylon. 

They had charming scenery all the way, and in many places it was 
unusually attractive. At one station (where they changed horses) the 
view from the veranda included a magnificent water-fall, where a good- 
sized river dashed in three streams over a precipice and united just be- 
low in a single torrent. As they rode along, the panorama of mountain 
and valley was constantly changing, and every minute seemed to have 
a new surprise in store for them. 

They reached Newera-Ellia late in the afternoon, and were glad to 
surrender their seats in the uncomfortable coach. They had found the 
air growing steadily cooler as they approached their destination, and as 
the afternoon advanced it became necessary for them to don their thick 
overcoats. A fire was burning in the parlor of the hotel, and our friends 
were not at all reluctant to accept some of the heat it threw out. 

There were carpets on the floors, and the wails of the house were 
made as though there was really a desire to exclude the cold rather than 
to welcome it. To the youths who had been so long in the tropics, and 
had struggled with the heat nearly every day and hour since their de- 
parture from Hong-Kong, it was rather a strange sensation to tread on 
soft carpets and sit around a cheerful fireplace, and they began to wonder 
whether they were really in Ceylon, or were dreaming. 

We will let the boys tell the story of their visit to this part of the 
island, which they did in their next letter to friends at home. Follow- 
ing the plan they had found so effective, they divided the labor and de- 
voted themselves to different parts of the description ; they did it so 
skilfully, that when they had finished the letter it appeared to have been 
the effort of but one person instead of two. Perhaps they had a hint 
from Doctor Bronson, and possibly they did the whole work without 
assistance ; quien sdbe f 



AMONG THE MOUNTAINS. 



257 



CHAPTER XXI. 



SCENERY AT NEWERA-ELLIA.— ASCENT OF ADAM'S PEAK. 

HERE is the letter referred to in the last chapter: 
" "We have had a delightful experience since we left Kandy, and 
should have been very sorry to miss the journey to Newera-Ellia. The 
road winds in a zigzag among the hills, and sometimes we could look 
down hundreds of feet upon the torrents that foamed along through the 
valleys. For several miles the route follows the Mahavilla-Ganga, which 
is the largest river in Ceylon, and goes into the sea near Trincomalee ; 
wherever the road crosses the river it 
does so on a substantial bridge, and at 
one place there is a suspension-bridge 
so high up that it made us dizzy to 
look over the side. 

" They tell us that twenty years 
ago the country was prettier than it 
now is, because the hills were then 
covered with dense forests of tropical 
trees and ferns, which have been clear- 
ed off to make room for coffee planta- 
tions. There is one charming valley 
called Kotmalee, which has a range of 
mountains on the south-east side, some 
of them several thousand feet high, and 
the Mahavilla-Ganga winds through it, 
sometimes presenting a smooth sur- 
face, and again broken into foam by 
the rapidity of its current over the 

rocks. At the end of the valley the mountains rise quite sharply, and we 
had a hard climb of fifteen miles to get from there to Newera-Ellia. The 
road ascends one foot in every fourteen, and you can readily understand 
that the horses had no easy work to drag the wagon up this steep incline. 

17 ~ 




A TROPICAL FERN 






258 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

"Here we are, 112 miles from Colombo, and 6240 feet above the level 
of the sea. We are on an undulating plain three miles long by one wide, 
and the ground is covered with rich grasses and with lots of flowers in 
blossom ; the mountains rise around us, but there are not a great many 
of them, as we are nearly up to the height of most of the mountains of 
Ceylon. 

" Newera-Ellia is a sort of Saratoga for the inhabitants of Ceylon, or 
rather for the foreign portion of them. People come up here as often 
as they can to escape the heat of the coast, and even the inhabitants of 
Kandy do not despise the place. The change is something like magic ; in 
Colombo the heat and dampness are oppressive, but up here you need a 
fire and blankets to keep comfortable, and in the winter the ground in 
the morning is white with frost. Roses and other flowers of the temper- 
ate zone grow here, and the blackbird and robin have been imported, and 
get along finely. Even a day or two of this atmosphere has a wonder- 
ful effect upon the visitor from Colombo, and some who cannot afford 
a longer time ran up here on Saturday, return Monday, and find them- 
selves vastly benefited. 

" We are so high up that the air is rarefied, but we have no difficulty 
in breathing. Many of the invalids, however, find it hard work to get 
their breath, and some have been compelled to go away very soon after 
their arrival, on account of the injury to their lungs. There is quite a 
town here, with church, hotel, reading-room, and other public resorts, and 
in some seasons of the year the place is crowded so that a stranger can- 
not get in. The temperature is about 53° in the morning, 70° to 75° 
at noon, and 60° at sunset, and it gets very cold in the night, with frost 
on the ground from December to March. All the English vegetables 
and flowers grow here, and so do strawberries and other bush fruits, but 
peaches will not ripen, and the cherry-trees turn to evergreens, and will 
not even blossom. 

" The Government has built a sanitarium for the officers and soldiers 
of the troops serving in Ceylon, and there is always a detachment sta- 
tioned here. They have a race- track also, and on frequent occasions 
they get up some exciting matches. Everybody goes — natives and all — 
and it must be an interesting sight to see the different races at the races. 
psT.B. — This joke was intended by Frank, who made it.] The natives are 
very fond of watching the horses go round the track, and sometimes 
they follow the example of the English, and make bets on the result. 

"They have a band of music, and it plays every other day in front of 
the regimental barracks ; and there is a club where they have balls and 



A HOLIDAY AT ' NEWEEA-ELLIA. 



259 




260 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

receptions : they keep hounds for hunting elk and other large game, and 
another pack for hunting hares. Altogether they manage to have a good 
time, and any one who can possibly spare a couple of days to visit New- 
era-Ellia ought to come here. 

" But there are drawbacks to the fun, and it is only fair that we 
should tell you about them. There are insects of various kinds to 
trouble you, and the worst of them is the land-leech. He does not live 
in the water like the ordinary leech, but grows on the trees and bushes, 
and crawls on the ground ; he can drop on you from the trees when you 
pass beneath them, and he can climb up your body and get inside your 
clothes. When empty they are not much larger than a needle, but when 
filled with blood they are as large as a goose-quill, and about two inches 
long. Ton can hardly see the young ones, as they are little thicker than 
hairs ; but let them once get fastened to you, and you feel them. So bad 
are they in some places that they drive people out of houses, and they 
have attacked persons travelling in carriages by dropping on them from 
the trees as they passed beneath. 

"If your blood is in a bad condition, their bites are apt to cause sores 
which are difficult to heal. In the last war the English had with the na- 
tives, the leeches caused more deaths than the snakes, and a great many 
of the sepoys and coolies employed here died from their bites. We 
have been bitten by a few of them, and don't want any more experience 
of the kind. It is a good plan to carry a lemon in your pocket, and when 
one of these leeches fastens to you, a few drops of lemon-juice will make 
him let go. The natives smear their bodies with cocoa-nut oil, which 
prevents the leeches taking hold, and this is perhaps the reason why so 
much oil is used in Ceylon. 

"They have water - leeches in great number, which frequently cause 
the deaths of cattle. They enter the nostrils of the poor brutes when the 
latter go to drink, and after gorging themselves they fall off and leave 
the wound to bleed. Very often it does so till the blood, accumulating 
in the throat, suffocates the animal. 

" While on this subject, we may as well say that Ceylon is reputed to 
contain more than 10,000 kinds of insects, besides several parts of the isl- 
and to hear from. The list of all these varieties might possibly be a little 
tedious, and so we won't try to give it, but will briefly say they include 
pretty nearly everything you can think of in the insect line. In the 
morning, and also in the evening, the hum of the wings of those that 
can fly is like the noise of machinery in a mill; at noon they are com- 
paratively still, as the heat seems to shut them up. The most of them 



INSECT PRODUCTS OF CEYLON. 



261 




SCORPION. 



disappear at the end of the monsoons, but they come up again ready for 
business in a month or two. 

" The white ant, as already mentioned, is one of the most destructive 
of these pests, since he will eat nearly 
all kinds of wood, and there are per- 
sons who say he is fond of knife- 
blades, needles, and similar things, 
and can even get away with a can- \^ 
non - ball. Closets, where meat and 
other things for the table are kept, 
must have the feet stand in saucers 
filled with water, or they will be over- 
run by these ants ; and in some parts 
of the island it is the practice to fix 

the beds in the same way, to prevent the disturbance of the occupants. 
" There are moths, and beetles, and centipedes, and millipedes, and 
scorpions, and dragon-flies, and many other things in great number, and 
there is a little thing they call the tic that is about as large as the head 
Of a pin, and makes trouble enough to be heavier than a cat. He gets on 
the skin, and buries himself in it, and you must lift him out with the 
point of a knife if you want to be rid of him, as you generally do. 
There are bees, and fleas, and caterpillars, and there is a curiosity they 
call the guinea -worm, which grows under the skin around a person's 
ankles, and gives him lots of trouble. It is like a fine thread, and grows 
to be several feet in length ; in order to get rid of it, the flesh must be 
cut into, and every bit of the worm removed, and you can readily under- 
stand that the operation is not 
an agreeable one. 

"Well, that's enough about 
these unpleasant things — we'll 
come back to other matters. 

" There is a dome - shaped 
mountain on the north - eastern 
side of the valley which is call- 
ed Pedrotallagalla, and is the 
highest in Ceylon, being 8280 
feet above the sea, or nearly 800 feet more than Adam's Peak, the 
most famous mountain of the island. We wanted to go to Adam's 
Peak, but find we cannot spare the time, and so we must be contented 
with taking the story of the journey from others. 




CENTIPEDE. 



262 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



" Adam's Peak lies between Newera-Ellia and the sea-coast ; in fact, 
it is nearer to Colombo, in an air-line, than Kandy is. To go from here, 
we should have to cross two or three mountains, and the best way to 
visit it from Colombo is to go from that place directly to Ratnapoora, 
on the Kaluganga. Ratnapoora is a nice village at the foot of the moun- 
tains, and just as you leave the flat country of the coast ; from there the 
distance to the summit of the peak, as the crow flies, is about eight miles : 
but it is nearly twenty by the roads and paths. 

" We will give the story of the ascent of the peak in the words of 




A VIEW IN THE FOOT-HILLS. 



the gentleman who told it to us, as near as we can -remember them. 
Here goes : 

" ' We left Ratnapoora early in the morning on horseback, and rode 
through the jungle to Gillemalle, which is a village of a few huts on a 
little plain among the thick forests. From here the road winds through 
hills and valleys in a jungle so dense that for more than half the way 
all the light of the sun is excluded. You can hardly imagine a more up- 
and-down road than this, and it is very pretty, as there are many tiny 
brooks and larger streams dashing among the rocks, and every turn in the 
way gives you a fresh surprise. But the land-leeches spoil a good deal 



THE ROAD THROUGH THE FOREST. 



263 



of your pleasure, as it is impossible to keep them off, and once in a while 
you have to stop and remove such as have got beneath your clothes. 

"'Yon have good reason to know the forest is not desolate, as you 
frequently see the tracks of wild elephants, pigs, leopards, and other 
game animals, and it is not impossible that you may encounter some of 
these denizens of the wood. But if you let them alone they are not 
likely to disturb you — and, as they can hear you coming long before 
you have a chance of seeing them, they are pretty certain to keep out 
of your way. 

" ' The road rises quite rapidly as you go from Gillemalle, and every 
little while you have fine views from the openings in the forest on the 
crests or sides of the foot-hills. The plains stretch away below you, and 




NATIVES OF THE FOREST. 



the hills seem like great mounds of tropical verdure, as they are covered 
quite to their summits with trees and smaller vegetation. In some places 
the road winds around cliffs so steep that you can roll stones over their 



264 THE BOY TEAVELLEKS IN THE FAK EAST. 

sides, and hear them rattling and crashing for several minutes in the deep 
valleys below. 

" ' The last inhabited spot on the road is Palabaddula, and here you 
must leave your horses and proceed on foot, as the path is quite impas- 
sable for saddle animals. You cross a ravine on a narrow foot-bridge,. 
and then you go on through a thick forest till you come to a level plat- 
form or bit of table-land called Deabetine. A traveller who came here 
five hundred years ago says, "There was at Deabetine the mark of Adam's 
foot, a statue with the left hand on the knee, and the right hand raised 
toward the west, and, lastly, the house that Adam made with his own 
hands." The mark of the foot and the statue are still there, but the 
house has gone. 

"'After leaving Deabetine, the road goes to a large torrent, where it 
is the habit of pilgrims to bathe, in order to purify themselves for the 
visit to the sacred temple on the summit. A little way beyond the 
stream you come to four flights of steps cut in the solid rock ; nobody 
can tell their age, but they were there eight hundred years ago, and were 
then so ancient that their origin was unknown. The way is so steep that 
the ascent would be very difficult without these steps. 

" ' Then you pass another ravine, and then you come to a great rock 
about fifty feet high that forms the summit. Here you climb by hang- 
ing on to some iron chains fixed in the solid rock, and I don't see how 
anybody ever got up there without them ; they have been there a thou- 
sand years or so, and are mentioned by Marco Polo and other ancient 
writers. Some are newer than others, and are probably the gifts of rich 
pilgrims to replace those that were worn or rusted out. 

" 'When you stand all panting and exhausted on the summit, you find 
yourself on a little terrace surrounded by a low wall, and containing a 
temple which is held in place by iron chains that go over its roof. The 
temple itself is on a mass of rock at one side of the terrace, and inside 
of the temple is the famous sri-pada or footprint. 

" ' When you examine the footprint you cannot help thinking that 
Adam, or Buddha, or whoever stepped there, must have been a person of 
extraordinary size, as the print is about five feet long by two and a half 
in width. It is apparently a natural indentation in the rock, extended 
artificially to represent the shape of the human foot. There was for- 
merly a cover of solid gold over the footprint, but it was lost long ago, 
and the only cover there at present is made of brass. 

" ' The pilgrimages of three classes of religionists are made to this 
temple — by Mohammedans and Malabar Christians in honor of Adam, 



VIEW FROM ADAM'S PEAK. 265 

and by Buddhists in honor of the founder of their religion. The three 
are often mixed together during the month of March, which is the time 
of the greatest number of visitors; but in spite of this mingling, and the 





TEMPLE ON ADAM S PEAK. 



opposite views professed by the pilgrims, there is no quarrelling, and all 
seem impressed with the solemnity of the place, and the magnificence of 
the view from the mountain. The panorama is a very fine one ; the 
southern half of Ceylon lies before you like a map, and away in the dis- 
tance you see the sunlight sparkling on a beach of shining sand, while 
beyond it the light plays on the waves of the ever-restless sea. The riv- 
ers wind through the plain like threads of silver in a rich carpet, and the 
breezes from the cinnamon groves and the flowers in perennial bloom 
bring delicious odors to your nostrils. The man who can look from the 
top of Adam's Peak, when the clouds have vanished and the great picture 
is spread before him, and not be impressed by the sight, must be made of 
something little better than the inanimate earth. 

" ' On the summit is a spring from which the pilgrims drink ; occa- 
sionally leaves are found floating on the water of this spring, and the na- 
tives believe it has a connection with paradise, and that these leaves come 
from there. There is also a spring near Deabetine ; the leaves that are 
found in it are thought to come from a garden that Adam established not 
far away, but anybody who tries to find it will never be allowed to return 
to his friends. 

"'There were two of us who made the ascent, accompanied by four 
local guides and servants to help us along. When we came back to Eat- 
napoora our men said we could return to the sea by the way of Caltura, 
by descending the Kahi River, as the current was swift and the journey 
would take onlv a short time. They procured us a boat which consisted 

17* 



266 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 




TROPICAL GROWTH NEAR RATNAPOORA. 



RETURN TO COLOMBO. 



267 



of two hollow logs a few feet apart, and connected by a platform ; on 
this platform we had a comfortable place to sit, while a couple of boat- 
men stood at bow and stern and managed the craft. We had several 
narrow escapes from being overturned in the rapids ; but all went well, 
and we arrived safely at the great road where we took the coach for 
Colombo.' " 

The letter was finished at a late hour in the evening, and soon after 
the closing words had been written the boys were snug in bed. The next 
morning they started for the return journey to Colombo ; while descend- 
ing one of the long hills between Newera-Ellia and the railway-station a 
part of the harness of their team gave way, and the coach was overturned 
on the very edge of a ravine where a brook rattled along a couple of hun- 
dred feet below. Had they gone two yards farther they would have tum- 
bled down the whole distance and been dashed to pieces, and it is fair to 
believe the entire trio felt that they had had a very narrow escape. The 
driver told them that accidents were of rare occurrence, but he admitted 
that once in a while they 
had something of the sort. 
Of late years the road has 
been considerably improved 
by the authorities, but it is 
yet far from being com- 
plete. 

They reached Colombo 
on the evening after leav- 
ing Newera-Ellia, and re- 
turned to their old quarters 
in the hotel. In the morn- 
ing, while the Doctor was 
busy with plans for their 
departure, the boys read 
and corrected their letter, 
and at the suggestion of 
Frank a postscript was add- 
ed, giving a brief account of the return journey, and closing with a de- 
scription of the visitors that were just then calling on them. 

"Our visitors are very numerous," said the letter, "and their names 
are crows. They are all through the room, and they stand on the blinds 
and the window-sills, and watch their chances when we are breakfasting 
to steal something from our plates. One of them just now came down 




A MOUSING CALLlili 



268 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE EAR EAST. 



and took away a cracker from a plate that was on the table where we 
are writing, and it is not unusual for them to seize the bread you have 
in your fingers. They are a little shy of strangers, but not much ; and 
as for the waiters in the hotel, they don't mind them at all. They are 
never harmed by anybody, and consequently it is not surprising that they 
are so tame. 

" There are many insect visitors, but we have grown so accustomed to 
their presence that we do not mind them until they actually crawl over 
us. They are worse in the evening than by daylight, as the lamps and 
candles attract them; they do not wait for an introduction, but make 
themselves at home as though everything belonged to them." 




EVENING VISITORS. 



STEAM LINES ON THE COAST OF INDIA. 



269 



FROM CEYLON TO INDIA. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

-A MARINE ENTERTAINMENT.— THE STORY OF 
ROBINSON CRUSOE. 



r PHERE are several ways of going from Ceylon to India. Doctor 
-*- Bronson and the youths took them all into consideration before 
making their final decision, and settling upon their route of travel. 

Once a week a steamer goes from Colombo to Tuticorin, which is at 



m 





TEMPLE AND TREES AT TUTICORIN 



l^-r^Stgm 



the southern end of the great peninsula of Hindostan. From Tuticorin 
there is a railway which connects with the whole railway system of In- 
dia; few people are aware of the extent to which railway construction has 
been carried in the land of the Bramins, and it is not surprising that the 



270 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

boys listened with something akin to astonishment, as the Doctor leaned 
back in his chair and grew eloquent over what the builders of the iron 
road had accomplished in this part of Asia. 

"At the time of the Mutiny, in 1857," said the Doctor, "there were 
barely 200 miles of completed railway in all India. From Calcutta north- 
ward the line was finished to Panegunge, 120 miles; and there were about 
seventy miles in operation from Bombay toward Poonah. At present 
there are nearly if not quite 7000 miles of iron road in India, and every 
year sees a considerable addition to the grand total of miles. By zigzag- 
ging across the country somewhat, it is possible to travel from Tuticorin 
in the south to Lahore and Mooltan near the northern frontier. The 
railways are of great importance in a military point of view, and if they 
had existed in 1857 as they exist now, the Mutiny would have been next 
to impossible. 

" Let me give you a general idea of the entire system as it now is, 
and for convenience we will start from Calcutta, the capital. The gen- 
eral direction of the line from Calcutta is north-westerly. Benares is 476 
miles away, Allahabad nearly a hundred miles farther, and Cawnpore an- 
other hundred. Delhi is 955 miles from Calcutta, and when we step 
from the train at Sher-shah, on the banks of the Indus, eleven miles 
from Mooltan, we are 1510 miles from the capital city. From Sher-shah 
we can proceed by steamboat on the Indus to Kotree in Scinde, whence 
another railway will carry us to Kurrachee (Kur-rach-ee), near the en- 
trance of the Persian Gulf. There are several branches intended as 
feeders to the main line, and also as military conveniences — notably, one 
from Benares to Lucknow, and another from Cawnpore to Lucknow. 
From Allahabad to Bombay there is a well-built line, and there is a line 
from Delhi and Agra through Central India which enables the traveller 
to reach Bombay by a different route from the one just mentioned. 

" From Bombay there is a line northward to Baroda, and southward to 
Madras and Tuticorin, and each of these lines has several feeders that you 
can see on the maps. The whole net-work is well devised, and has cost a 
vast amount of money, but it is worth all it cost. A writer, who recently 
travelled through this country, has summed the matter up as follows : 

" ' From the foot of the Himalayas and the Hindoo-Koosh, the iron 
horse has a pathway to Cape Comorin and the tepid waters of the 
tropic seas. In the north he drinks the waters from the melted snows 
of the loftiest mountains on the globe ; in the south he sniffs the spice- 
laden breezes from palm-clad Ceylon, and sees the pole-star hugging the 
horizon and anticipating the advent of the Southern Cross.' 



FAREWELL TO COLOMBO. 271 

" We will not go by way of Tuticorin," Doctor Bronson continued, 
" as we shall have quite enough of travelling by rail without making 
the long journey ; and, besides, it would carry us to Bombay if we stuck 
to the railway, and we want to keep that city for our point of departure 
from India. We can, if we like, go by rail from Tuticorin to Madras, 
and thence to Calcutta by steamer ; the objection to this course is that 
there are not many things of importance to see on the way, and the 
journey will be fatiguing. 

" For the same reason that we do not wish to go all the way by rail, 
we will not take the weekly steamer from Colombo to Bombay, as it 
brings us to that city before we have seen anything of Northern India. 

"After considering all the routes, I think we had best take the weekly 
steamer from Colombo to Calcutta ; it stops at nearly a dozen points on 
the coast, and gives us an opportunity to see a great deal that we might 
otherwise miss. It travels generally at night, and stops during the day 
at a port, and thus we can economize our time to decided advantage. 
The steamer leaves this afternoon, and we can go leisurely on board 
after lunch." 

The recommendations of the Doctor were immediately accepted by 
Frank and Fred, and they completed their preparations for departure by 
packing and securing their trunks. At the appointed hour the baggage 
was piled into a cart drawn by a couple of bullocks, and went to the 
landing-place in charge of the porter of the hotel. The distance being 
slight, and the afternoon cool, the party followed on foot. 

" I declare," said Frank, as he watched the retreating cart with the 
baggage, "I've forgotten something!" 

" What is that ?" Fred asked, in astonishment ; " I thought it was one 
of our rules never to forget anything?" 

" I haven't forgotten anything of our property, if that's what you 
mean," Frank responded ; " but it's something I have intended to write 
about." 

" That's no serious consequence," said the Doctor, " as you will have 
an abundance of time on the steamer. What is it ?" 

" It's the curious vehicles they have here in Ceylon, drawn by bul- 
locks, and by bullocks that trot, too. I'll write it out when I get on the 
ship, and make sure I don't forget any more." 

They had no trouble in getting to the steamer, though they narrowly 
escaped a drenching from a wave that broke over the bows of the boat 
that took them across the harbor. As soon as they were on board Frank 
went below, and devoted himself to the production of the following : 



272 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



" They have carriages for hire in the cities of Ceylon which are called 
hackeries, and are drawn by hump-backed bullocks or sacred oxen. They 




A FASHIONABLE HACKERT. 



are almost entirely used by natives, and it is very rarely that you see a 
European riding in one of them. These animals can travel thirty miles 
a day easily, and can trot a mile or so as fast as an ordinary horse, but 
you generally see them going at a walk. A nice hackery has a roof over 
the top in a sort of dome shape, and there are cushions on which the pas- 
sengers sit. Frequently you see whole families of five or six persons 
crowded into one of these carriages, and the bullocks trotting smartly 
along as though they enjoyed their work. Then they have carts for car- 
rying baggage and similar work ; in a case where a man in ISTew York 
would send for a dray, he sends for a bullock-cart in Colombo or Kandy. 

" Doctor Bronson says these animals are the sacred oxen of India and 
the East. Their native name is zebu, and their scientific one Bos In- 
dians; they are distinguished by a hump on the shoulders, and are much 
smaller than the oxen of America. In India they are worshipped, and 
they run around the temples and do pretty much as they please ; they 
give a great deal of trouble to the dealers in grain, as they have no man- 
ners at all, and help themselves to anything they want. The natives con- 
sider it a sin to kill them, but their sacred character does not save them 
from doing a great deal of hard work. 

" There is a story that at one time the sacred bulls of the temples of 



SACEED BULLS AND ADAM'S BRIDGE. 



273 



Benares, in India, extended their wanderings into the part of the citj 
where the English live ; there was a slaughterhouse there where the for- 
eigners were provided with beef, and the bulls discovered that some of 
their number disappeared mysteriously whenever they went near the 
slaughter-house. What became of them was never known ; but suddenly 
the bulls gave up going there, or even into the English quarter, and 
sometimes, when a young bull ventured too far, one of the old ones on 
watch would bellow and call him back. I cannot say if this is really so, 
but give the story as I heard it. 

" In many of the stables where these animals are kept, the stall is ar- 
ranged so that when the occupant is feeding he must place his fore-feet 
considerably higher than his hind ones. The natives believe that this 
process causes the food to digest more readily than if all the feet of the 
ox are on a level." 

When Frank had finished, it was Fred's turn to think of something 

that had been forgotten. 

"It will never do," said he, "to leave our accounts of Ceylon without 

saying something about Adam's Bridge. As you have looked after the 

oxen, it is my duty to attend to the story of the bridge." 

And so, after collecting from the books they had with them and from 

personal information, Fred 

wrote as follows : 

"Ceylon is fifty -three 

miles from India, but is 

almost connected with it 

by some islands and a reef 

that together form what 

is called Adam's Bridge. 

There are two islands, Ba- 

misseram and Manaar, and 

the rest of the bridge is a 
reef of sand and sandstone. 
There are several open- 
ings, the largest being for- 
ty yards wide and ten feet 
deep; the Government has 
proposed to deepen it so 
as to allow the passage of 

large ships, and will probably do so one of these days. It is certain to 
cost a great deal of money, and that is why it has been postponed. 




EASTERN MODE OF FEEDING OXEN. 



274 THE BOY TRAVELLERS ' IN THE FAR EAST. 

" The Hindoo legends say the bridge was made by one of their gods, 
assisted by an army of monkeys, who built it in a single night. The 
Bramins also claim it, and so do the Mohammedan Arabs, who gave it 
the name of Adam's Bridge, and say that Adam came from India and 
crossed on this bridge on his way to heaven, which he reached by jump- 
ing from the peak which bears his name. Some of the old accounts de- 
clare that Ceylon was once joined to the Continent, and several English 
engineers and geologists who have examined the formation of the land 
say this is quite probable. 

"On the island of Ramisseram is a large Hindoo pagoda, where a great 
many pilgrims go at certain seasons of the year. There are also two very 
old tombs which the Mohammedans say belong to Cain and Abel. Some 
writers have thought the Garden of Eden was in Ceylon, and the Arabs 
say that when the children of Adam were scattered they went north to- 
ward India, and Cain and Abel were buried in this island." 

The steamer sailed about sunset, and on the next morning she an- 
chored in the harbor of Point de Galle. The day was passed in pleasant 
drives and walks around the place, and in closing up letters which would 
be taken a couple of days later by the weekly steamer that touches there 
on her way from the Far East to Europe. At sunset the steamer sailed 
again, and turned around the coast of Ceylon to head northward into the 
Bay of Bengal, and the next day she steamed along the coast with the 
shore nearly always in sight, her destination being Negapatam, on the 
coast of India. 

There were about a dozen passengers in the cabin of the steamer ; 
they included, besides our friends, two government officials with their 
wives, a member of the clergy of the Church of England, two plant- 
ers going from Ceylon to Madras on business, and a little group of three 
strangers who could not be made out at a first glance. It soon became 
known that they were actors who had been playing in the cities of Cey- 
lon, and were now on their way to India, where they hoped to make a 
profitable tour of the country. 

On the second evening of the voyage the actors entertained the rest 
of the passengers with songs and recitations till it was time to put out 
the lights. The next morning Frank and Fred were in consultation with 
Doctor Bronson relative to a scheme they had concocted for contributing 
to the fund of amusement. The Doctor gave his assent, with the remark 
that they had been working and studying very diligently for some time, 
and a little recreation would be quite in order. " Besides," said he, " it 
is quite proper when at sea for all to contribute what they can conven- 



A TEMPLE IN INDIA. 




PART OF A HINDOO PAGODA. 



276 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

iently to the entertainment of their fellow-passengers ; they are doubly 
rewarded for the effort, as they secure occupation for themselves, and 
thus pass the voyage agreeably, and at the same time add to the happi- 
ness of those who are on board with them." 

For a couple of days very little was seen on deck of the two youths ; 
the weather was of the temperature that kept the cabins comfortable, 
and enabled them to conduct the work on which they were so mysteri- 
ously engaged. The steamer stopped at Negapatam for a couple of hours, 
but the captain said there was nothing to be seen on shore, and, therefore, 
the labor was not interrupted. Then she steamed on to Pondicherry, 
and in the evening, when dinner was over, a notice was circulated to the 
effect that there would be a grand exhibition in the cabin, to which the 
captain and passengers were invited. " It will be," said the bill, " a pan- 
orama of the wonderful adventures of Robinson Crusoe, in prose and 
poetry, and also in pictures prepared at vast expense by two celebrated 
artists who have engaged passage on this ship regardless of the cost." 

At the appointed time the passengers assembled, and the boys step- 
ped before the curtain — a table-cover borrowed from the steward. Frank 
was the speaker of the occasion, while Fred had charge of the panorama: 
the latter consisted of a series of sketches in heavy crayon, with occasional 
touches from a box of water-colors to heighten the effect. As soon as 
quiet had been secured, Frank began : 

"Ladies and Gentlemen, — It is hardly to be supposed there is any 
one in this vast audience who has not read the story of Robinson Crusoe, 
which we are about to illustrate; consequently, I will not tell you about 
him, especially as he never existed at all, and was never thought of till 
a Scotch sailor named Alexander Selkirk lived all alone for four years 
on an island in the Pacific Ocean. The adventures of this sailor gave 
Daniel Defoe the hint to write the story of Crusoe: it has been done in 
verse by some one else, and it is the poetical version which I shall now 
give you." 

Frank paused an instant while Fred placed the first picture of the 
series on a temporary easel, composed of the back of a chair, which stood 
on the end of the cabin table. As soon as the picture was adjusted 
Frank recited the lines : 

"'When I was a lad my fortune was bad, 
My grandfather I did lose, oh ; 
I'll wager a fan you've heard of the man, 
His name it was Robinson Crusoe.' 



THE ADVENTURES OF ROBINSON CEUSOE. 



277 




"Now," said Frank, "it is customary to sing this song to an accom- 
paniment, but we are out of inn- ^ 
sic to-night, and the audience 
must be contented with a recita- 
tion. If we gave it in song, we 
should expect you to join in the 
chorus, which would be in the 
following words : 

"'Oh, poor Robinson Crusoe! Oh, poor 
Robinson Crusoe ! 
Sing tinky ting tang, sing tinky ting 
tang, 

Oh, poor Robinson Crusoe ! ' " 

-T),].,. m ,t -,, , ROBINSON CRUSOE. 

T3y this time Jb red had changed 
the scene— that is, he had removed the first picture and brought out the 

second. Frank then proceeded : 

~~* - . Jjj " 'You've read in a book of a voyage he took, 

sjs^--^^ How the raging whirlwinds blew, so 

«,_ That the ship with a shock fell plump on a 

asf^jT" 7 v>,/* : : rock, 

Near drowning poor Robinson Crusoe.' 



" But we need have no fears of 
sharing the same fate," said Frank, 
" as we are in a steamer instead of a 
sailing-ship, and the raging whirl- 
winds would not be so likely to drive 
us on shore ; and, besides, we are not in the season of typhoons; and ev- 
ery thing promises us a prosperous voyage. Next picture." 

The appearance of this work 
of art was the signal for the re- 
cital of the third verse of the old 
song : 

'"Poor soul! none but he escaped from 
the sea. 
Ah, Fate ! Fate ! how could you do so ? 
At length he was thrown on an island 
unknown, 
And saved was poor Robinson Cru- 
soe.' " LANDING OF ROBINSON CRUSOE. 




THE SHIPWKKCK. 




The next picture was produced with great promptness, and the audi- 



278 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 




CRUSOE S EQUIPMENT. 



ence was left to pick out the various 
properties of the hero of the story, 
while Frank continued : 

" 'But he saved from on board a gun and a sword, 
And another old matter or two, so 
That by dint of his thrift he managed to shift 
Pretty well for poor Robinson Crusoe.' 



"A contemplation of this admira- 
ble painting," said Frank, "will show 
you how much may be accomplished 
by very small means with a man of 

determination, or what amounts to pretty much the same thing, a man 

that can't help himself. It is hardly necessary to say that the hero of 

our story was obliged to make 

the best of everything, and the 

next picture shows how he ac. 

complished it. ^j 

" ' He wanted something to eat, and Ji=t=§lil 

couldn't get meat, 
The cattle away from him flew, so ^-' : - 

That but for his gun he'd been sorely 

undone, spw?^ 

And starved would poor Robinson ^ 
Crusoe.'" S \ jlz 



By this time Fred had be- 
come accustomed to handling 
the sketches, and the change was 
made with great alacrity. Frank 
rested a moment till the eyes 
of the audience had sufficiently 
scanned the picture presented 

for their inspection, and which revealed the interior of Crusoe's resL 
dence when that gentleman was at dinner, with his pets about him. 
" The parrot will speak for himself," said Frank, " and therefore we will 
proceed with the narrative. The rest of the pets have never been known 
to talk, except in fables, and therefore we may conclude that they had 
nothing to say, though there is no reason to doubt that they were al- 
ways glad to see their master, and did their best to console him and to 
lighten the burden of his solitude. From the appearance of things we 
may regard the family as a happy one. 




CRUSOU AND HIS GUN. 



THE ADVENTURES OF ROBINSON CRUSOE. 



279' 




CRUSOE AND HIS PETS. 



" ' He happened to save from the merciless 
wave 
A poor parrot, believe me 'tis true, so 
That when he came home from his 
wearisome roam, 
She'd cry out 'Poor Robinson Cru- 
soe!'" 

" The explanation of the next 

picture may possibly be a tax 

on your credulity," said Frank ; 

" but it is so stated in the song, 

and I cannot alter the words as 

they were originally written. 

The author doubtless availed 

himself of what is called 'the poet's license,' and followed Crusoe's ex- 
ample of using everything at 
his command. 

'"Then he got all the wood that ever he 

could, 

And stuck it together with glue, so 

He made him a hut, in which he did 

put 

All the flocks of Robinson Cru- 



At the termination of the 
second line Frank placed his 
fingers together to form an im- 
aginary house -roof and indi- 
cate the way in which the cas- 
tle of Robinson Crusoe was constructed. He explained to the audience 
that there had been much controversy concerning this matter, and it had 
happened in several instances that individuals who experienced no diffi- 
culty in believing Robinson Crusoe had really existed, and accepted his 
story as a true one, were thrown into a condition of doubt by the an- 
nouncement that he employed glue in building his house. They argued 
that, in the first place, glne was difficult if not impossible for him to pro- 
cure ; and, secondly, it was a very poor material to use in cementing a 
roof. "But we will drop this discussion," said he, "and go on to the 
next scene. You will allow me to remark that the arrival of Friday 
made an end of the solitude of Robinson Crusoe, and gave him the hu- 
man companionship he desired. 




CRUSOE S CASTLE. 



280 



THE BOY TEAVELLEES IN THE FAE EAST. 




"-■SlteK^^ 



ARRIVAL OF FRIDAY. 



'"While his man Friday kept the house 
snug and tidy — 
For be sure 'twas his business to do 
so — 
They lived friendly together, less like 
servant than neighbor, 
Lived Friday with Eobinson Crusoe. 

" And here is the portrait of 
the hero of the story," said Frank, 
as the next picture was brought 
out, " and you can judge of his 
personal character by the appear- 
ance of his features. His cloth- 
ing is not such as would secure him ready admission to the best society 
of England and America ; but, as he had no prying neighbors, and no- 
body to criticise his actions, it is not at all strange that he adopted this 
style of dress, particularly when there were no tailors and no ready-made 
clothing-stores on the island. 

"'Then he wore a large cap, and 
his clothes without nap, 
And a beard as long as a Jew, 
so 
That when dressed in his coat he 
resembled a goat 
More than poor Eobinson Cru- 
soe.' 

"And now comes the 
last," said Frank, as the 
closing picture of the se- 
ries was produced. "And 
allow us to thank you, ladies 
and gentlemen, for your at- 
tention, and to express the 
hope that our efforts at whil- 
ing away part of the even- 
ing have not been altogeth- 
er in vain. Alexander Selkirk disappeared from history when he left the 
island of Juan Fernandez and returned to England, and the story of Rob- 
inson Crusoe terminates in the same way. Our exhibition closes with 
the welcome arrival of the ship. 




PORTRAIT OF THE HERO. 



THE ADVENTURES OE ROBINSON CRUSOE. 

" 'At length within hail he saw a stout sail, 
And he took to his little canoe, so 
When he reached the ship they gave him a trip, 
And to England brought Robinson Crusoe.'" 



wtawm 



281 




A SAIL ! A SAIL ! 



The boys bowed and retired, the audience applauded, and then one of 
the actors recited Cowper's lines on Alexander Selkirk, beginning 

"I am monarch of all I survey, 

My right there is none to dispute." 

Then another of the party sung " A Life on the Ocean "Wave ;" and 
just as he reached the concluding lines the whistle of the steamer sound- 
ed, the engines came to a sudden stop, and the meeting adjourned in a 
body to the deck to see what was the matter. 

Lights gleamed on the shore and on ships at anchor near them ; they 
saw at a glance that there was nothing alarming in the situation, and 
hardly needed the assurance of the captain, who came aft just then, that 
they were in front of Pondicherry. 



282 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE EAR EAST. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



SIGHTS IN PONDICHERRY.— THE FRENCH EAST INDIES.— VOYAGE TO 

MADRAS. 

nPHE steamer lay quietly at anchor during the night, though she rolled 
-*- somewhat from the motion of the waves that sweep almost con- 
stantly from the Bay of Bengal. The anchorage is only an open road- 
stead, and sometimes the surf beats on the sandy beach with such force 
that landing is next to impossible. There is a small river emptying into 
the sea at Pondicherry, but it is only accessible to native craft, which 
draw but little water, and to the smallest of foreign vessels. 

In the morning all the passengers went on shore, with a warning from 

the captain to return before noon, as he 
should sail for Madras a few minutes 
after the sun had passed the meridian. 
There was hardly any wind blowing, and 
the surf was quite light on the beach : our 
three friends united with one of the other 
passengers in hiring a boat rowed by eight 
men, which was to take them ashore and 
back again to the steamer for the aggre- 
gate sum of four dollars. As soon as the 
four were seated in the stern of the craft 
the natives pulled vigorously at their oars, 
and shot the boat ahead with satisfactory 
velocity ; they accompanied their rowing with a song which was sung by 
the two sides of rowers alternately, and then by the whole crew in chorus. 
The words, as near as the boys could make them out, were about as follows : 




GOING ASHORE. 



"Ahee! ma wala deery— 
Ahee ! ja nala meery — 
Ahee ! wala, nala, jan ! " 



As they reached the shore the boat rose on the crest of a wave, and 



A DISAGREEABLE LANDING-PLACE. 



2& 



the instant she touched the sand the crew sprung out and seized her sides 
to run her up the beach before the next wave could arrive. Nobody 
received the least wetting, but the shore was so damp with the spray and 
surf that walking was not desirable. The boatmen stepped into position 
to receive the passengers on their backs, and our friends went ashore in a 
manner that was not altogether dignified, though decidedly comfortable. 

When the north-east monsoon is blowing in its full force the surf is 
so heavy that no boat can live in it. The great rollers rush in one after 
the other in rapid succession, and with a front ten or twelve feet high : 
foreigners are cautious about venturing into it at such times, but the na- 
tives have no such fears, and many of them improve the opportunity for 
surf-bathing. With a short plank to keep them afloat, they spring into 




NATIVES IN THE SURF. 



the waves and allow themselves to be tossed here and there by the tur- 
bulent waters, and if they are thrown on the sand again and again they 
sustain no injury. 

As they walked along the beach and into the city, Doctor Bronson 
told his young companions about Pondicherry and its history. 



284 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



"Pondicherry," said he, "is the capital of the French possessions in 
India — Les Indes Orientates Frangaises. It is a city of barely 50,000 
inhabitants, and the French territory attached to it has about 200,000 in- 
habitants on an area of 112 square miles. There are two or three other 




SCENE NEAR PONDICHERRY. 



small settlements in India belonging to the French, but altogether they 
do not number 50,000 people in their limits. This is all that is left of the 
once wide possessions of the French in India. There was a time when 
the French were more powerful in the East than the English, and about 
the middle of the last century the latter began to fear that they would 
be driven out of Hindostan by their rivals. The French held more than 
half the country, and Madras and the principal cities in the English pos- 
session were besieged by the French and their native allies. The genius 
of one man turned the tide of war, and a succession of victories gave the 
English practical control of the whole country." 

" That man was Lord Clive, was he not?" said one of the boys. 

" Yes, Lord Clive. He organized a small force of English and native 
soldiers, and managed them so skilfully that one after another of the 
enemy's strong places fell into his hands. I advise you to read the his- 
tory of his life whenever you have the opportunity, as it is exceedingly 
interesting, and will amply repay you for the perusal. I cannot, in the 
time at our disposal, give you even a brief outline of it, as it covers many 
events of importance, and includes a period of nearly twenty-five years. 



WHAT LORD CLIVE ACCOMPLISHED. 285 

Ho fought many battles, and was nearly always victorious: the most 
important was the battle of Plassey, which occurred on the 23d day of 
June, 1757." 

"I've read about that battle," said Frank; "it was the one that de- 
cided the question of the English staying in India or being driven out 
of it." 

"You are right," answered the Doctor; "if the battle of Plassey had 
gone the other way, the English power would have been completely bro- 
ken, at least that is what the English historians themselves admit. Clive's 
army consisted of only 3000 men, and two -thirds of them were native 
soldiers, the rest being Englishmen. The native army opposed to him 
was 55,000 strong, consisting of 40,000 infantry, 15,000 cavalry, and hav- 
ing fifty large cannon, drawn by elephants and oxen. It is proper to say- 
that the infantry was armed principally with pikes, swords, and bows and 
arrows, and the only weapons using gunpowder were some old-fashioned 
firelocks. The English had the best fire-arms of those times, and their 
artillery was far superior to that of the natives, though the number of 
pieces was smaller. 

" The native nabob who commanded opened fire on Clive with his 
heavy guns, but they did very little harm. The English artillery replied 
with such deadly effect that the nabob ordered a retreat ; Clive's army 
then advanced, and the enemy was thrown into confusion, and the retreat 
became a disorderly rout. All their artillery and camp equipage fell into 
the hands of the English, and the victory was complete." 

One of the boys asked if many of the combatants were killed. 

"ISTo," was the reply; "the loss of life on both sides was very small, 
especially for such a complete defeat on one side, and a decisive victory 
on the other. About 500 of the native army were killed, and a great 
number made prisoners; the English lost twenty -two killed and fifty 
wounded — when I say English, I mean the entire army under Clive's 
command. 

" Clive's victory at Plassey was followed by another at Patna over the 
troops of the Great Mogul, and in the year 1759 he defeated an army that 
was sent from the Dutch East Indies by the Governor of Batavia. Then 
he went to England, where he remained four years before returning to 
India to resume his command of the affairs of the colonies. On his final 
return to England his administration was questioned, but he vindicated 
himself in a parliamentary examination and died in 1774." 

While this conversation was going on our friends were strolling 
through the streets of Pondicherry, and observing its peculiarities. Fred 



286 



THE BOY TRAVELLEKS IN THE FAR EAST. 



said he expected to see a great fort and many soldiers, but the Doctor 
told him that when the place was given up by the English, in 1814, it 
was on the condition that no European soldiers should be kept there, and 
no fort should be built. The same was the case with the other French 
possessions in India, and consequently they could never be of any mili- 
tary importance, and would speedily fall into the hands of the English in 
case of war between the two countries. 

They found that the European quarter was well laid out along the 
sea-shore, and separated from the native portion by a ditch, which was 
crossed by several bridges. The streets are broad, and shaded by magnifi- 




HOUSE IN THE EUROPEAN QUARTKR. 



cent trees, and nearly every house has a fine garden attached to it. The 
squares are large, and there are many temples and pagodas that tell the 
traveller he is in India. Many of the natives speak French, and alto- 
gether they appear content with the foreigners that rule over them. 

They met many natives, and the boys were impressed with the oddity 
of the appearance of many of them. The quantity of jewellery worn by 
the women surpassed what they had seen in Ceylon, or in any of the 
countries hitherto visited, and one of them remarked that people in India 
were willing to suffer much inconvenience for the sake of fashion. As 
he said so he pointed out a woman who had a ring at least two inches in 
diameter thrust through one side of her nose in such a way that it hung 
down over her mouth, and reached to the level of the base of her chin. 



ORNAMENTS OF GOLD AND SILVER. 



287 




It certainly appeared as though it would be a great hinderance to eating 
and drinking, but the woman seemed proud of her adornment, and prob- 
ably would have been unwilling 
to part with it. 

It was further observed that 
she had her ears pierced with 
several holes, and each hole con- 
tained a ring. The whole front 
of the ear was filled with ring's. 



As if this were not jewellery 

enough, she had a double string 

of beads on her neck, a great 

necklace of silver coins that 

hung to her waist, and a couple 

of ornaments on each arm. 

Bells tinkled as she walked, and, 

on glancing at her ankles, Frank 

and Fred observed that they 

were beautified with heavy rings AN indian woman. 

of silver. 

The fondness for jewellery was not confined to the women by any 

means, as the boys had occasion 
to remark before they had fin- 
ished their discussion of the 
wearer of the many rings. They 
saw several men whose ears were 
pierced in the same way as those 
of the women, but they were 
content with filling the holes 
with delicate pearls. A few of 
the wealthiest of the native men 
had diamonds in their ears, but 
the lower classes could not af- 
ford such a luxury. 

In front of the principal ho- 
tel of the city there was a group 
of natives around a performer 
who appeared to be doing some- 
thing interesting. Our friends 
stopped to see what the attraction was, and found that a snake-charmer 




AN INDIAN MAN. 



'288 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



was exhibiting bis power over a cobra-di-capello. As the boys had not 
jet seen a snake-charmer in India, the Doctor motioned to the man to 
bring his serpent near the veranda of the hotel, where the strangers 




A SERPENT-CHARMER. 



took their seats. Accordingly the performer brought forward a small 
basket, about the size and shape of an ordinary cheese, and then squatted 
in front of it. 

With an instrument somewhat resembling a flute he began playing a 
dull, monotonous air; in a few moments there was a movement under 
the bit of cloth that lay in the basket, and presently the head of a cobra 
appeared. Slowly the snake elevated himself till nearly half his length 
was in the air, and as long as the music continued he swayed his head 



FROM PONDICHEERY TO MADRAS. 289 

backward and forward, and apparently tried to keep time to the tune. 
When the musician laid aside his flute the snake subsided, and crawled 
under the blanket as though he wished to go to sleep again. The per- 
formance was over, and the man advanced with a low bow and extended 
his hand for his reward. The Doctor gave him a sixpence, another spec- 
tator added a similar amount, and the snake-charmer went away satisfied. 

" He was only an ordinary performer," said the Doctor ; " I can show 
you some that far excel him before we have been long in India. Their 
adroitness will astonish you, and some of their tricks will appear like the 
work of a magician ; I will not detract from their interest by telling you 
what they will do, but won I'd rather have you wait and see for yourselves. 
The time for our return to the ship is approaching, and we had better 
move on." 

Suiting the action to the word the Doctor rose, and was followed by 
the youths. In a little while they were passing through the surf and out 
toward the ship, which they reached without mishap of any kind. A 
little past noon the anchor was lifted, and the steamer was under way 
for Madras. 

It is about ninety miles from Ponclicherry to Madras, and as the 
steamer was not a fast one, it was well into the night before she arrived 
at the latter port. The captain announced that she would remain there 
until evening of the second day after their arrival, and thus they would 
have two full days on shore. They could do as they liked about coming 
off to sleep on board or staying at a hotel. As there was a good chance 
of a wetting in the surf while going back and forth, it did not take a long 
consultation for them to decide to remain on shore. Rising early in the 
morning they ate a light breakfast, and then took their satchels with such 
toilet-articles as they desired during their single night on land. Plenty 
of boats were at the ship's side, and a bargain was made to the effect that 
for two rupees each they were to be carried to the shore and back again, 
with a rupee additional to the crew by way of perquisite. 

The boat they engaged was of the variety known as the masullah ; it 
was made of long thin planks, and the sides were very high in order to 
keep out the surf, or as much of it as possible. The planks extended 
from one end of the boat to the other, and were tied together with coir 
ropes running through small holes bored in the edges. The seams were 
calked with the fibres of the cocoa-nut-tree, and daubed with pitch ; but 
in spite of this precaution the craft was a leaky one, and a man was occu- 
pied more than half the time in baling her out. The bottom was flat, 
and covered with a quantity of small twigs to keep the feet of the pas- 

19 



290 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



sengers from getting wet ; the crew wore neither shoes nor stockings, and 
consequently it made little difference to them whether their feet were 
wet or dry. 

The captain of the steamer told them that the masullah-boat was a 
remarkable construction, and though it appeared frail, it was in reality 




MASULLAH-BOATS IN THE SURF AT MADRAS. 



very strong. " It goes on the waves instead of through them," said he, 
"and is therefore just what is wanted for the surf. The sides are so flex- 
ible that they can be brought close together, and then sprung out again 
without apparent injury, as I have seen them do repeatedly. They bump 
against the sides of our ship for hours without any more effect on them 
than on a rubber ball, and- they will carry any sort of cargo that can be 
lowered into them." 

Away they went on their trip to shore, the crew singing the same 
kind of song they had heard at Pondicherry, and rowing with curious- 
looking oars or paddles that had quite a resemblance to enormous tea- 
spoons. As they neared the land, the waves rolling in from the sea were 
not a pleasant sight, and the situation was not improved when the men 
stopped rowing just outside the line of surf and demanded double pay 
before going in. This is a favorite trick with the Madras boatmen, and 
it frequently succeeds where the passengers are timorous : this time it did 
not work to their satisfaction, as the Doctor peremptorily ordered them 



THE USE OF THE CATAMARAN. 



291 



to row back to the steamer if they were unwilling to keep to their bar- 
gain. Finding themselves foiled, they pulled away at the oars, keeping 
the head of the boat straight on for the shore. She rose on one wave, 
and then on the next and the next : there are generally three lines of 
waves pursuing one another, and the third, counting from the outside, 
is the one that breaks into surf. 

As they struck the sand with the surf the boatmen sprung out and 
ran the boat out of reach of the next wave. A little water was taken 
into the stern of the boat in the shape of spray, just as they rose on the 
crest of the last wave; Frank was slightly sprinkled with it, but the Doc- 
tor and Fred escaped without the least wetting. 

From the sand they were carried by the men to dry ground, and as 
soon as they were fairly on their feet a great clamor was raised by the 
crew for extra pay. The Doctor told them it would be due when they 
returned to the ship and not before, and without more words the trio 
walked off with their satchels, 
to which they had clung. -^S^fe 

The masullah-boat is not the 
only kind of craft that passes 
through the surf at Madras. 
Just as they landed, Frank and 
Fred saw a sort of raft with two 
men on it boldly launching into 
the waves, and it was followed 
by another with only one man 
on it. The Doctor explained 
that these rafts or catamarans 
were made of three logs that 
turned up at the ends, and were 
lashed side by side, and they 
Were chiefly used for taking- 
letters and light parcels from 
ship to shore, or from shore to 
ship. The men that manage 
them have high hats with pock- 
ets in the lining, and everything they carry is put there for safety. 

At the side of the street, just above the beach, stood a garry, or car- 
riage, which the Doctor engaged to take them to the principal hotel. 
The crowd of boatmen and beach attendants followed, and pressed so 
closely that it needed several strokes of the umbrellas of our friends to 




A CATAMARAN. 



292 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



keep them even a yard away, and, as they entered the carriage, a dozen 
hands were thrust into the windows with demands for backsheesh. Some 

of these fellows followed the car- 
riage for nearly half a mile, shout- 
ing their complaints, and making a 
vain effort to be bought off. Doc- 
tor Bronson said they were the 
most persistent beggars he had ever 
seen, with the possible exception of 
the Arabs at the great pyramids in 
Egypt, and it was quite possible that 
the latter might learn a lesson from 
the beach-combers of Madras. 

With the crowd shaken off at 
last, our friends had a chance to 
look around them and obtain their 
first impression of Madras. 

The city stands on a plain close 
to the sea, and extends seven or 
eight miles along the coast. The 
view, as one approaches it from the 
water, is quite picturesque; between 
the beach and the first line of buildings there is a wide street, in which 
we see a good deal of activity in the early and late hours of the day, but 
very little when the sun is at or near the meridian. The densest part 
of the city is in the neighborhood of the long pier, and for nearly a mile 
up and down the shore the line of buildings is almost unbroken. This 
part of. Madras is called the Black Town, and nearly all the business of 
the place is conducted here ; in the rest of the city the buildings are 
much more scattered than in the Black Town, and, altogether, Madras is 
said to cover an area of about thirty square miles. 

Frank wondered how many inhabitants there were in Madras, and 
what was the proportion between the natives and foreigners. 

" There are about 400,000 people living here," Doctor Bronson an- 
swered, " and the majority of them are Hindoos. There are less than 
2000 people of English birth here, exclusive of the garrison, and there 
may be four or five hundred German, French, Greek, and other Euro- 
pean nationalities. It is an odd spectacle to see so small a population 
governing a large one, but you must bear in mind that this is the case in 
nearly all the cities of the East where Europeans have obtained control." 




HINDOO NATIVE OF MADRAS. 



FIRST VIEW OF MADRAS. 



29a 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

SIGHTS AND SCENES IN MADRAS.— THE INDIAN FAMINE. 

VT^PIAT Frank and Fred saw and did during their visit to Madras is 
* ' best told in their own words. 

"After running the gauntlet of the crowd of natives on the beach, 
and getting a carriage, we drove to the principal hotel of the city. We 
found it a series of houses disconnected from each other, and the rooms 
that they gave us were in the building most distant of all from the din- 
ing-room. Peddlers and jugglers followed us to the door, and we had 




JliSf^tf u 




WESTERN ENTRANCE OF FORT GEORGE. 



Lard work to keep them out of our rooms till we called a servant, and 
told him to drive them away. 

" We rode about Madras, and the first thing we went to see was the 
fort, which we reached by crossing a bridge at its western entrance. It 
covers a great deal of ground, and was a strong enough place before the 
improvements of the last twenty years in artillery. Its full name is Fort 



294 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



St. George, and it is designed to resist attack both by land and sea; on the 
side facing the sea it has a front of 1500 feet, and on the land side it has a 
double line of bomb-proof defences built of stone and covered with earth. 
" We were surprised at the quantity of things in the fort. There 
were small guns of all the kinds you ever heard of, and some you never 
did ; there were cannon captured in the various wars with the native 
princes and kings, cannon from China and other parts of the Far East, 
swords, pistols, muskets, firelocks, flags, wagons, saddles, spears, and a 
thousand other things that the auctioneers would say are too numerous 
to mention. The fort is large enough for a garrison of 1000 men, and 




1 1 ; , 



i ' _ icj it : 



fcT, - 



^SSflHtfe 



m 




GOVERNOR S RESIDENCE, FORT GEORGE. 



in time of war it could hold many more. All the European inhabitants 
of Madras could be taken inside in case of trouble, but they would be 
crowded rather closely when their numbers were added to those of the 
garrison. 

" The Governor of the Presidency of Madras lives here, and his house 
is inside the fort. It is a great building two stories high, and has wide 
verandas, where there is plenty of air without the necessity of sitting in 
the sunlight. We saw elephants in the enclosure of the fort, some with 
soldiers on their backs, and others with great burdens of freight that they 
were employed in bringing inside. As we crossed the bridge we met an 
elephant, and a little farther on a camel, while down by the bank of the 



BISHOP HEBER AND THE MISSIONARY HYMN. 295 

canal a couple of hnmp-backed oxen were looking into the water, and pos- 
sibly admiring themselves. We have seen quite a lot of these oxen and 
cows to-day, and wherever they were grazing or standing idle under the 
trees the crows were perched on their backs, and seemed to be on good 
terms with the beasts. The crows here are as impudent as those of 
Ceylon, and we are told that we shall find them so all the way through 
India. 

" We went into the English church, which is a pretty building, but 
does not contain many objects of interest. The thing that attracted our 
attention most was a statue of Bishop Heber, who was formerly Bishop 
of Madras, and died at one of the interior cities of this presidency. He 
is best known to Americans as the author of the famous missionary 
hymn beginning, 

"'From Greenland's icy mountains, 
From India's coral strand.' 

" The story is that one Sunday he was to deliver a missionary sermon, 
and could not find an appropriate hymn to be sung after he had finished 
preaching. Half an hour before it was time to go to service he took his 
pen and wrote the hymn, which he handed to the leader of the choir as 
he entered the church. It was afterward printed, as we now see it, with 
the alteration of only three or four words. 

"The statue of the bishop represents him standing and looking kind- 
ly on a native convert who sits at his feet. An odd thing about the 




HUMP-BACKED COW. 



church is the array of punkas, or large swinging fans, over the desks 
and pews ; they are operated by pagan servants, who stand outside dur- 
ing service, and keep their employers cool while the latter are at their 
devotions. 



296 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



" In one part of our ride we passed the place where the dhobies, or 
washermen, perform their work. As we saw them, we understood how 
it is our clothes get so sadly knocked to pieces in this part of the world. 
They make your shirts up into a sort of club, and then pound with it on 




MADRAS DHOBIES, OR WASHERMEN. 



a rock till the linen is clean. No boiling and no rubbing ; nothing but 
pounding and rinsing, and sometimes they help things along by folding 
some gravel in with the linen. We have had lots of handkerchiefs sent 
home with holes in the centre where they had been torn through by 
the gravel inside, and many of our socks have been burst open at the toes 
and ruined before being washed a third time. Half a dozen visits to the 
dhoby generally make the end of a shirt or other under-garment, and 
sometimes they will manage to finish it in three or four. 

" The necessity for frequent change of linen, and the destructive 
manner of washing, makes the single item of under-linen a very costly 
one. Shirts should be made of the strongest material consistent with 
comfort, and not of the fine linen which most Americans are fond of. 
If you know anybody who is about starting on a journey around the 
world by way of India, tell him to get a dozen of the strongest white 



HOUSE-KEEPING IN INDIA. 



297 



shirts he can before starting — or, if he does not bring them, he should 
have them made up in Yokohama or Honff-Konsr. 

"Madras covers an enormous extent of ground, for the reason that all 
the houses stand in large yards, or 'compounds,' as they call them here. 
Everybody has a whole army of servants to run his house, and these ser- 
vants must be cared for; and they generally manage to have their fami- 
lies lodged somewhere on the premises, though the master is not sup- 
posed to know it. We met a gentleman to-day who is a bachelor, and 
lives with another bachelor, and he said that together they had fifteen 
servants. Another gentleman, with his wife and two children, said he 
had twenty -six servants in all, and at times he employed as many as 
thirty. We would write about this matter in detail, but Doctor Bronson 
suggests that we had best wait till we have seen more of East Indian life, 
and had a practical experience of existence in a land of castes and curious 
customs ; so we'll put it off for a while. 

"A house where people live in India is called a bungalow, and a 
warehouse is named a godown. Bungalow is a Hindostanee word, and 
godown is a corruption of the Malay gadong, which means a warehouse. 




A MADRAS BUNGALOW. 



All through India these words are very generally used by Europeans, to 
the exclusion of the English names for the same things. Properly speak- 

19* 



298 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

ing, a bungalow is a house only one story high, and, owing to the great 
exertion required for climbing stairs in these hot countries, you rarely 
see a building of more than one story except in the cities. 

" We visited two or three bungalows in the resident portion of Ma- 
dras, and had an opportunity of looking through them. They had wide 
verandas, and the windows were covered with lattices and Venetian 
blinds to keep out the heat, while the floor was of brick or cement, for 
the sake of the superior coolness of those articles. Coir matting was laid 
over the floor to protect the bare feet of the occupants, and there were 
several punkas in each room to keep the air in circulation. 

"We were quite interested in looking at the punkas, and learning 
how they work them. There is a certain class of servants, known as 
pankhd-wallahs (punka-fellows), who work these fans, and are hired for 
that purpose at about three dollars a month, they boarding themselves. 
They stand outside and work the punka by means of a cord passing 
through a hole in the wall, so that while you are enjoying the strictest 
privacy, you may have the fan in motion above you. You have a punka 
over your bed, another over your bath-tub, another at } 7 onr dressing-bu- 
reau, another over your dining-table, and another above your desk. Your 
body- servant calls out to your punkha- wallah, and has him shift from 
one cord to another as you move about your room, or go from one room 
to another. You have the punka in motion all day and all night some- 
where, and for this purpose you must have two men to relieve each other. 
When you go to bed a basket of old shoes is placed where you can reach 
them, and you are fanned to sleep. If yon wake perspiring in the night, 
and find the pnnka motionless, you may know that the pankha-wallah is 
taking a nap ; you throw a shoe in his direction and thus awaken him, 
and immediate!}' he resumes his duty. 

" The side where the man pulls is the one that gets the air most vig- 
orously circulated, for the reason that it is brought forward with a cer- 
tain force, and goes back by its own weight. The people here call the 
one where the man pulls the Bombay side of the punka, and the other 
the Bengal side. We asked why it was, and they told us that when the 
south-west monsoon blows it comes with its full force from the sea upon 
the shores of the Bombay presidency; crossing the country and going- 
over the mountains to Bengal, it expends its strength and becomes very 
weak. Therefore you see how the Bombay and Bengal sides of the pun- 
ka get their names. 

" They say that a good many inventions have been tried for substi- 
tuting machinery for man power in working the punka, but none of 



AN INDISPENSABLE SERVANT. 



299 




A PANKHA-WALLAH. 



300 THE BOY TEAVELLEKS IN THE FAR EAST. 

them have succeeded, for the reason that the peculiar pull or impulse 
that is needed to put the air in motion can only be given by the human 
arm. Machinery works with regularity and a steady pull, and the real 
need of the punka is a jerk or extra force while the cord is being drawn, 
followed by a complete relaxation of the cord to allow the fan to go back 
and get ready to be drawn forward again. 

" We went through the bazaars, but did not find them very interest- 
ing. The shops are small, and the best goods are hidden from sight ; at 
all events we were not able to see anything of great value, and we had 
neither time nor inclination to compel the merchants to display their 
wares when we had very little thought of buying anything. We did not 
find the streets particularly clean in the native quarter, and a short stay 
among them was quite sufficient. There was some very pretty brassware 
in a few of the shops, and they showed us a lot of handsome filigree work 
in silver, which was said to have been made at Trichinopoly. The lat- 
ter place is famous for its silver work, and the result is that a good deal 
of what is made in other places is sold for the genuine article. 

" There are many natives of Madras engaged in business with Eng- 
lishmen, and they have a considerable amount of the import and export 
trade in their hands; and nearly every European house has one or more 
natives attached to it, somewhat after the manner of the compradores in 
China and Japan, as they save the manager a great deal of trouble in 
dealing with the inhabitants of the country. These native merchants are 
said to be very shrewd in their operations, and anybody who supposes 
they are verdant would find out his mistake as soon as he began to bar- 
gain with them. 

" The natives of Madras are said to be of- darker complexions and 

smaller figures than the inhabitants of the country farther north; some 

of them are almost as dark as negroes, but their features do not resemble 

those of the African in any way. They are very picturesque in their 

gay-colored robes and large turbans, and as you see -them with their vast 

head- coverings you wonder how they can endure so much weight on 

their heads in this hot country. The turban, as it is worn here, contains 

many yards of muslin, and it is not an easy matter to wrap it so that it 

will stay in place. It is doubtful if a European could endure a turban 

which prevents the circulation of air around the brain ; undoubtedly the 

best head-covering for the foreigner is the sola-topee, or sun-hat, which 

every European wears, and could not be persuaded to get along without; 

but you never see one of them on the head of a native unless he has 

adopted the entire European dress. 



PORTRAIT OF AN EAST INDIAN MERCHANT. 



301 




NATIVE MERCHANT OP MADRAS. 



302 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

" We have seen a good many Eurasians, or people descended from 
European parents on one side and Asiatic on the other. Their position 
is an unhappy one, as they will not associate with the natives, and, on the 
other hand, they are not allowed to associate with the Europeans. De- 
spising the one, and despised by the other, they have no recognized social 
standing, and no one speaks well of them. 

" The saddest thing we have seen is a camp of the victims of the 
famine. Every little while in America we read of famines in India, but 
none of us know much about them, as the country is far away, and we 
are not bound to it by any ties of kindred. The people are so poor and 
so heavily taxed that it takes all they can earn to support them in times 
of plenty ; when the crops fail they have nothing laid by to live upon, 
and must starve. This year they have had famines in two parts of India, 
one in the Madras presidency and one in Bengal, that of Madras being 
the worst. It is said that a million of people have died of starvation in 
Madras, and half that number in Bengal. Think of a number as great as 
all the inhabitants of New York city perishing of hunger, and then judge 
what a calamity it must be ! 

"A great many persons are inclined to blame the British authorities 
for the famines in India, and it is undoubtedly the fact that the high 
taxation has much to do with the poverty of the people. On the other 
hand, the Government has done a great deal in the way of constructing 
irrigation works that will keep the land fertile in times of drought, and 
it has built roads so that provisions may be carried, from the places where 
they are abundant to where they are most needed. The failure of the 
rains is the cause of the famines ; the south-west monsoon (which brings 
the rain) is looked for with great anxiety all over India, and is considered 
of so much importance that its arrival is telegraphed to the newspapers 
of Europe and America. When you read in the telegraphic column that 
the monsoon has burst in the provinces of Central India, you may know 
that all fears of famine for the year are over, unless, as sometimes hap- 
pens, the rains are so great in quantity that they flood the fields, and 
prevent the farmers from performing their work. 

".Notwithstanding the poverty of the people, we are told that the 
land-tax in India is increased every few years, and in many districts it is 
absolutely impossible for the people to pay it. Doctor Bronson says that 
thoughtful persons, who have studied the relations between England and 
India, say the latter country is fast going to bankruptcy in consequence 
of the oppressions that are steadily increasing. The taxes have grown so 
great that they are now more than one-eighth of all that the country pro- 



HOEEOES OF A FAMINE IN INDIA. 303 

duces, and in some parts of India they are one - sixth ! Think of what 
would happen in America if one-sixth of all the wheat, corn, cotton, and 
other products, and a sixth of all that is manufactured was paid over for 
taxes. We should be in a state of poverty quite equal to these people in 
a short time. 

" In the camp that we visited we saw some poor wretches who were 
just able to crawl, and some that had been brought in on stretchers, be- 
cause they were too weak to stand. There was hardly any flesh on their 
bones, their cheeks were sunken and hollow, and their eyes seemed to be 
half forced from their sockets. They lay on the ground — some under the 
tents, and some in the open air — and many of them were so far gone that 
they had not strength to feed themselves. They did not appear to com- 
plain, and one of the officers in charge of the camp told us that they 
were exceedingly patient, and rarely caused any trouble. Poor creatures ! 
they were too weak to do so, however much they might have had the 
inclination. 

" These people had been brought to Madras from the famine districts, 
and we were told that similar camps were scattered along the line of the 
railway wherever the crops had failed. It had been found easier to feed 
them in camps than to distribute food to them in their villages, as there 
was a great deal of loss by theft, and in other ways, in making the distri- 
bution. The natives seem to have very little regard for each other, and, 
if half that has been told us is true, it is an eternal disgrace to this peo- 
ple. Large sums of money were raised in England for the sufferers by 
the famine, and the British Government made a heavy contribution for 
the same purpose. With this money rice was bought in Rangoon and ship- 
ped to Madras, and from there it was sent by rail to the famine districts. 
The boatmen at Madras demanded exorbitant prices for landing it, and 
tw r o or three times they struck for extra pay because they knew that the 
Government was anxious to get the rice forward as rapidly as it could. 
They tore open the sacks and stole a large share of what they took on 
shore, and when they had done so they did not take the trouble to sew 
the sacks again, but let the rice spill on the ground. The carters who 
took it to the railway-station continued the theft, and in some instances 
fully ten or fifteen per cent, of the rice was lost between the ship and the 
railway-station, and there were cases where the loss was more than thirty 
per cent. 

"Well, that's enough about this unpleasant subject. We'll turn to 
something else. 

" For the first time in our lives we have seen people riding in palan- 



304 



THE BOY TKAVELLEES IN THE FAR EAST. 



quins, or palkees, as they call them here. The vehicle is a box about 
seven feet long and four wide, and it has lattice sides to allow the air to 
circulate. The bottom is covered witli a neat mat, and the passenger 
who is to ride in it must lie down and place his head on a pillow with 




A MADRAS PALKEE. 



which the palkee is provided, while he puts his hat on a shelf above his 
feet. We have not yet tried a palkee ride, and when we do we'll be able 
to tell more about it. In a general way it looks like a very uncomforta- 
ble thing to ride in, and you can see very little from the windows on ac- 
count of your position. There is a pole at each end, which is braced by 
iron rods, so that it can sustain the weight of the box and a person inside. 
Four men are required to carry it; and at night there are one or more 
torch-bearers, whose duty it is to light the way and frighten off any wild 
animals that come near. These fellows are not very brave ; and at the 
first indication of danger they run away, and are followed by the bearers, 
who drop the box on the ground and leave the inmate to take care of 
himself. 

" The people of Madras have tried hard to make a harbor, so as to 
avoid the terrible surf that breaks on the coast, but all their efforts have 
not amounted to much. They began to make a harbor, some years ago, 
by running a couple of breakwaters out from the shore; but somehow, as 
fast as they built them, the sea made a protest by ' silting,' or filling up 
the enclosed space with sand. Next they built an iron pier running out 
beyond the breakers : it stands on piles, and has a lot of cranes along its 
sides for hoisting goods out of the large flat-boats, or lighters, that are 



DIFFICULTIES OF EMBAEKING. 306 

used here. But the pier cost a great deal of money, and they have been 
obliged to make so high a toll for using it that it is almost abandoned 
when the weather is at all suitable for passing through the surf. 

"We came back to the steamer by this pier, and paid a toll of about 
ten cents each for using it. Our boat was at the foot of some long 
stairs, and it bobbed up and down about three or four feet each time. 
and very rapidly. We had to watch our chances and jump when it rose. 
Two of us got in all right, but the third did not jump soon enough by a 
couple of seconds, and when he struck the bottom of the boat he went 
sprawling on the brushwood and in the water that splashed up through 
it ; but we escaped without a wetting, and that is more than everybody 
does. 

" The captain of the steamer says, when the sea is so rough that they 
cannot pass the surf, and the boat dances too much at the foot of the 
stairs, people are landed by means of the cranes that they use for hoisting 
goods. The boat goes in under the crane, and a bucket is lowered down 
and allowed to rest on the boat's bottom ; then the passenger gets into 
the tub, sits down and clings to the handles, and when all is ready the 
men on the dock hoist away. It is rather trying to a nervous person ; 
but at any rate it is better than being half or who)ly drowned in the 
surf," 



306 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

FROM MADRAS TO CALCUTTA.— THE TEMPLE AND CAR OF JUGGERNAUT. 

FROM Madras the steamer continued her course up the coast, and 
touched at two or three ports, where the boys went on shore and 
wandered for a few hours about the towns and villages ; but they did not 
find much to interest them after what they had already seen. As they 
returned from one of these excursions the captain of the ship informed 
them that he had an interesting piece of intelligence to convey, as he 
was about to stop at a port which was not on the regular programme. 

Frank asked what the place was, and on learning its name he imme- 
diately went to Doctor Bronson to tell the good news. 

" The captain says we are to stop at Pooree," the youth exclaimed ; 
"and Pooree is another name for Juggernaut.'"' 

" And we'll see the famous idol of Juggernaut," said Fred, " tnat 
crushes thousands of people under its wheels every year." 

The Doctor smiled, and asked if they wanted to see the great proces- 
sion and witness the crushing. Thereupon Frank and Fred turned pale, 
and began to wish that the steamer would not stop there, as they did not 
desire to see any suffering that it was in their power to prevent. The 
deaths of these hundreds of fanatics who throw themselves under the 
wheels of the car of Juggernaut would be a horrible spectacle, and they 
wanted to be as far from the scene as possible. 

" I may as well tell you now as later." said Doctor Bronson. " that 
the story of the car of Juggernaut and its terrible slaughter is almost 
entirely a fiction. The car exists, and it makes its annual procession 
from the temple to the country-house of the god, where it is dragged by 
thousands of worshippers. Here are the facts of the case as given by 
Mr. W. W. Hunter, who lived a long time in the district of Orissa, and 
was director-general of the statistical survey of India. He published a 
book on Orissa a few years ago, and gave particular attention to the 
history of the car of Juggernaut. Here is what he says of the slaughter 
of the pilgrims' 



LABOEERS OF THE LOWER CLASSES. 



307 




INHABITANTS OF POOREE. 



308 THE BOY TEAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

"'In a closely packed, eager throng of a hundred thousand men and 
women, many of them unaccustomed to exposure or hard labor, and all 
of them tugging and straining to the utmost under the blazing tropical 
sun, deaths must occasionally occur. There have, doubtless, been in- 
stances of pilgrims throwing themselves under the wheels in a frenzy of 
religious excitement ; but such instances have always been rare, and are 
now unknown. At one time several unhappy people were killed or in- 
jured every year, but they were almost invariably cases of accidental 
trampling. The few suicides that did occur were, for the most part, cases 
of diseased and miserable persons, who took this means to put themselves 
out of pain. The official returns put this beyond doubt. Indeed, noth- 
ing could be more opposed to the spirit of Vishnu worship than self- 
immolation.' " 

" In that case," said one of the boys, " we shall be very glad to visit 
Pooree, and see the car of Juggernaut. The romance is gone from it, but 
it will be an interesting sight on account of the story that has so long 
been connected with it." 

" One of your countrymen," said the captain of the steamer, who had 
been listening to the conversation — " one of your countrymen was a pas- 
senger with me last year on the voyage we are now making. When I 
told him we were not to visit Pooree he was greatly disappointed, as he 
wanted to see the famous car, and also hoped that he might witness the 
traditional slaughter of the pilgrims. When I told him what you have 
just learned he was still more angry, and said that all the poetry of the 
East was gone. He had hoped to see a widow burnt by the side of her 
dead husband, and to witness the Juggernaut procession -with its old-time 
attractions; the loss of these interesting spectacles was too much for. him, 
and he heartily wished he had never left home." 

" We won't be so cruel in our tastes as all that," one of the boys an- 
swered, and then the conversation on this topic came to an end. 

In due time they reached the port in question, and anchored in front 
of the town. Doctor Bronson and the youths engaged a boat, and were 
taken ashore ; and with the consent of the captain they were accompanied 
by one of the servants of the steamer, who spoke English and could serve 
them as guide. They found that the town was not a large one, its popu- 
lation being estimated at about 30,000 ; but its streets were crowded with 
people, and they were not surprised to learn that it was annually visited 
by more than a million pilgrims. 

Their guide took them to the principal street, which is very wide, 
and bordered on each side by religious establishments called maths, where 



THE TEMPLE OF JUGGERNAUT. 



309 



pilgrims are lodged, and where certain ceremonies of purification are per- 
formed by them before they enter the temple. These maths are low 
buildings of a single story, with wide verandas in front, and a plentiful 
supply of shade- trees; they are built of stone, and their occupants are 
not required to pay any kind of rent to the Government on account of 
their religious character. At the end of this street is the great temple, 
and the boys quickened their steps as they approached it, so anxious were 
they to look at its interior. 

They found the temple enclosed in an area of about ten acres in ex- 
tent, and learned from their guide that each side of the enclosure meas- 
ured 650 feet, and the lofty wall before them extended all the way 
around. On the eastern side, where they entered, there was a broad 
staircase of stone steps leading up to a platform twenty feet in height; 
this platform was about 450 feet square, and enclosed by a wall somewhat 




sLg- d C^ £-71 * : : : ma? 



Outer Enclosure; IFnV 




PLAN OF THE TEMPLE OF JUGGERNAUT. 



lower than the outer one, and it appeared to be pretty well filled with 
small temples, and pagodas that had been built with comparatively little 
regard to order or regularity. 



310 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



The great pagoda rises from the centre of this platform or terrace ; it 
has a base about thirty feet square, and its top is 200 feet above the foun- 
dation. It tapers gradually, and is rounded at the summit; the sides 
are cut full of niches for holding small statues, and at a distance the 
effect is quite pretty. Close by the entrance is a stone pillar nearly fifty 
feet high, hewn from a single block, and said to be a remarkable piece 
of work. 

The enclosure and the temples were full of pilgrims who had come to 
make their offerings ; some of them scowled at the strangers, but offered 




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I J B 1 



imi m 



""^ lliiiii "*— " 



mr.<' / v v ^ 







JAGANATH AND HIS BROTHER AND SISTER. 



no violence, though a few crowded around and made remarks in a men- 
acing tone till they were silenced by the guide. The interior of the tem- 
ple is divided into four rooms or halls that open into each other: one is 
the hall of offerings, where gifts are made by the pilgrims, to be after- 
ward appropriated b} r the priests ; the second is the hall of the musi- 
cians and bayaderes ; the third is the hall of audience, where the pilgrims 
gaze on the god, and the fourth and last is in the centre of the building, 
and occupied by the god Juggernaut, or Jaganath, with his brother on 
one side and his sister on the other. 

Contrary to their expectation, our friends found that the statue of the 



EXTENT AND CHARACTEE OF THE PILGRIMAGE. 311 

god was only a log rudely fashioned into the shape of a human body 
without arms, while the figures on each side of him had rude representa- 
tions of hands uplifted. The priests explain this deficiency by saying 
that Jaganath, or " the lord of the world," has no need of hands, as he 
can perform everything without their aid. Sometimes on festival occa- 
sions they fasten golden hands to his shoulders, and adorn him with jew- 
els : his eyes are supposed to be of fine diamonds of enormous value ; but 
according to tradition one of them was stolen by a sailor, who managed to 
conceal himself in the temple one night, and since then me diamonds 
have been removed and bits of glass put in their place. 

The guide told them that the service of the temple consisted of a 
daily offering of fruit and flowers, together with articles of food, such as 
rice, butter, milk, salt, vegetables, cocoa-nuts, and the like. Four times 
a day the temple is closed for the god to take his meals, and it is hardly 
necessary to say that the food which has been collected is eaten by the 
priests and other attendants of the place. It has been estimated that the 
value of the offerings averages nearly twenty-five dollars daily, and all of 
it goes to the support of the priests. In addition to these offerings of food 
there are donations of money and jewels from wealthy pilgrims, which are 
estimated by Mr. Hunter to amount to more than $300,000 a year. 

The pilgrims come from all parts of India to worship at this shrine: 
many of them are women, and they are collected by missionaries who are 
sent out from Pooree to the number of about six thousand every year. 
They go all over the country, and each has his field of labor assigned to 
him. He shows to the people the great advantages of a journey to the 
sacred shrine, and as soon as he has collected a band of pilgrims he starts 
with them for the holy spot. Most of the pilgrims are poor, and they 
go on foot and beg their subsistence as they proceed. Now and then a 
wealthy merchant concludes to make the pilgrimage, and he does it with 
carts and wagons and a whole train of servants, and it sometimes happens 
that a prince comes with dozens of elephants, and everything in grand 
style. 

It is estimated that ninety-five per cent, of the pilgrims are poor, and 
perform the journey on foot; and some of the pious devotees prostrate 
themselves at every third, fifth, or tenth step. Many of them die on the 
road, and after their arrival at Pooree the mortality is frightful. This is 
partly owing to the fact that a hundred thousand people are often crowd- 
ed into a city that has a resident population of less than a third that 
number, and no effort is made to keep it clean. The great festival oc- 
curs in the rainy season, so that the attendance is largest at the very time 



312 



THE BOY TEAVELLEES IN THE FAE EAST. 



when it should be least. The drainage is the worst that could be imag- 
ined, and the stench that arises is horrible in the extreme. Sometimes 



* 




A 'HINDOO DEVOTEE. 



there are hundreds of deaths in a day, but the vacancies created by the 
losses are quickly made up by fresh arrivals. 

Another cause of serious illness and frequent death is a religious 
observance connected with the worship of the idol. It is the custom to 
carry cooked rice into the presence of the god, and it immediately be- 
comes so sanctified by his presence that it destroys all distinctions of 
caste. All classes can eat it together, and the richest may sit down by 
the side of the most humble in the presence of this holy food. Not a 
grain of it must be thrown away, and thus it happens that it is often kept 
for several days before it is eaten. When fresh it does no harm, but after 
a day or two it putrefies, and is a sure producer of disease. 

There is hardly a year when cholera does not appear among the pil- 
grims to Juggernaut, in consequence of the bad food they eat. The true 
Asiatic cholera had its origin here, and it is noticeable that every recur- 
rence of the epidemic has had its beginning in the festivals connected 
with some of the Hindoo forms of worship. 



THE OEIGIN OF CHOLERA. 313 

The great epidemic of cholera (in 1817) began at Juggernaut, and was 
carried across India and thence up the Persian Gulf to Bussorah, where 
18,000 persons died in eighteen days; it then moved on through the val- 
leys of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers to the shores of the Mediterra- 
nean, where it stopped. In 1826 there was another epidemic, arising in 
the same locality ; it w r as the first to reach Europe and America, and ar- 
rived in the latter country in the spring of 1832, in a ship that brought 
some Irish emigrants to Quebec. It ascended the St. Lawrence Ttiver 
and the Great Lakes, and entered the United States at Detroit, whence it 
spread over the country and caused many thousands of deaths. 

When our friends entered the temple the boys asked for the famous 
car on which the idol takes his annual ride. The guide led the way to a 
small shrine in the enclosure surrounding the temple where the wonder- 
ful carriage was standing. It was a great structure, about forty feet high 
and nearly as many square on each of its four sides ; its wheels were 
eight or ten feet in diameter, and were hewn from single blocks of w T ood 
like the trucks on a country baby -cart. The shrine where the god is 
placed during his annual ride was decorated with some hideous carving, 
and just above the wheels there were representations of horses in the act 
of running. 

A little distance away were two smaller cars, and the guide explained 
that each of the idols has a carriage of his own, that of Juggernaut being 
the largest and most important. A short time was devoted to the inspec- 
tion of these vehicles, and then the party left the temple and returned 
to the shore, as it was near the hour for the steamer to leave ; besides, it 
was considered judicious to get away from the pestilential atmosphere of 
the temple, as none of the strangers cared to invite the development of a 
case of cholera on his own account. 

On the way back to the ship the guide told the boys about the great 
car festival that takes place in July of each year. 

For weeks before the time fixed for the event the pilgrims arrive at 
the rate of thousands daily, and the city is crowded to its utmost capaci- 
ty ; there are rarely less than 100,000 people there on the occasion of the 
great festival, and sometimes they are ten or twelve thousand above 
that figure. When the day comes for the ceremony, all the space in and 
around the temple is densely crowded, and the priests find it difficult to 
move about in the performance of their duties. The idols are taken 
from their pedestals and placed in their cars, and as this is done a signal 
is made, and the whole multitude falls to the ground. In a few mo- 
ments they rise and seize the great ropes to drag the cars forward, amid 



314 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE EAR EAST, 




THE CAR OF JUGGERNAUT. 



AREIVAL AT THE SAND HEADS. 315 

the beating of hundreds of drums and the clashing of many gongs and 
cymbals. 

The huge car of Juggernaut moves onward amid the shouts of the 
vast assemblage, the sound of music in frightful discordance, and the 
songs of the priests who stand on the front of the car or clinging to its 
sides. The progress is slow, and sometimes the journey of little more 
than a mile requires two or three days for its accomplishment. The end 
of the journey is the summer-house of the god, and when the car has 
been brought there it is abandoned by the pilgrims, whose pious duty 
has been finished. It is taken back to the temple by the inhabitants of 
Pooree and the surrounding country, and the idols are restored to their 
pedestals. 

By the time the story was ended the boat was at the side of the 
steamer, and our friends were speedily on board. In a little while the 
captain had completed his business at Pooree, and the vessel steamed 
away in the direction of Calcutta. Pooree was the last port visited on 
the voyage from Colombo to Calcutta. 

When the boys went on deck in the morning the captain said they 
were in sight of land ; Frank and Fred looked around, but could see 
nothing save the waters extending in every direction, with a few sails in 
sight here and there. The captain observed their perplexity, and smiled 
as he said, 

" We are in sight of the Sand Heads ; you have heard of the Sand 
Heads at the mouth of the Hoogly River, have you not ?" 

" Certainly," Frank answered ; "but I cannot see them." 

"Well," continued the captain, "they are under water where you 
see that brig anchored a couple of miles ahead of us. We consider that 
land is in sight when we see the pilot-brig, though we cannot see any 
land at all. The Sand Heads are banks of sand beneath the water, and 
the brig marks their locality. At the brig the steamer goes into the 
charge of the pilot, and my authority over her course ceases." 

As they neared the brig a small boat came off; the ladder was lowered 
from the side of the steamer, and the pilot climbed to the deck, followed 
by his servant and baggage ; then the small boat dropped astern, and 
the steamer continued on her way. Soon a buoy was in sight, and then 
another and another, in a winding line, and the boys learned that the 
channel through the treacherous sands was thus indicated long before 
land could be seen. 

" You see what an excellent means of defence we have in case of 
war," said the captain of the steamer. "We have only to take up the 



316 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 




A TROPICAL ISLAND, 



317 



buoys, and no hostile fleet could find its way inside, even if it had the 
aid of all the pilots in the service. No one can follow the channel with- 
out these buoys, no matter how often he may have been over the route. 
The maintenance of the harbor of Calcutta and its approaches is a mat- 
ter of great expense, and has been a puzzle to the best engineers. Even 
after we enter the river we have many difficulties to encounter, and the 
pilot needs a pair of sharp eyes, and must keep them well open." 

By-and-by a dark line appeared on the horizon, which the captain pro- 
nounced the island of Saugur; and then little tufts and patches of green 





BAYOU IN SAUGUE ISLAND. 



were seen here and there close to the shore, or out on the sand-bars that 
just rose to the surface. The morning was bright, with the exception of 
a few light clouds that were tipped with crimson from the rays of the 
tropical sun, and the sea was undisturbed save by a light ripple which 
was not enough to give the least rocking to the steamer. The dark line 
developed into a low forest, and after a time another forest was revealed 
on the other side of the ship, but there were no high headlands, and noth- 
ing to indicate that there were any mountains within hundreds of miles. 



318 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

Saugur is a densely-wooded island many miles in extent, rising only 
a few feet out of the water, and seamed and traversed by numerous 
bayous and creeks. Here come the wood -cutters who supply Calcutta 
with fuel, and occasionally — much against their will — furnish a good 
meal for the tigers for which Saugur is famous. The jungle is dense,. 
and the tigers find in it a secure cover; they lurk in the vicinity of the 
paths, and spring on their victims without the least warning. Formerly 
they were numerous, but their ranks have been thinned by enterprising 
and intrepid hunters, and by the tidal wave that swept over Saugur a 
few years ago, arid laid the whole island under water for several hours. 
All the low land at the mouth of the Hoogly was inundated, and the 
wave reached to Calcutta, where it caused enormous damage to the ship- 
ping. Thousands of lives were lost, and the terrible visitation fills a mel- 
ancholy chapter in the history of the City of Palaces. On the island of 
Saugur nearly all the persons who were there at the time, engaged in- 
wood- cutting or for other purposes, were drowned; only those escaped 
who were near their boats or were able to get into the tops of trees. 

Two natives who were among the saved said that they climbed into 
a tree out of reach of the water, and were followed by a tiger. The- 
animal did not molest them, and for several hours they were within a 
few feet of him, and were not even saluted with a growl. The beast 
was so terrified at the sight of the waters, and his own danger, that he 
forgot all his natural antipathy to man, but, on the contrary, seemed to 
court their presence. Since the inundation it is observed that there are 
but few tigers on Saugur Island, and the inference is that many of them 
were killed by drowning. 

The steamer followed the tortuous channel among the sand -banks, 
and finally came to the entrance of the Hoogly, one of the mouths of 
the Ganges. The Ganges, like the other great rivers of the globe, has- 
brought down vast quantities of earth and deposited it at its mouth, and 
the amount is so great as to divide the river into several channels. Doc- 
tor Bronson explained to the boys this peculiarity of great rivers, and 
told them that the earth which thus accumulates is called a delta. 

" I understand," said Fred ; " I read about that at school. Every 
great river has its delta, and some of them are very large. The delta 
of the Mississippi is more than 300 miles long, and is extending every 
year. In every ten gallons of water brought down by the river there 
is one gallon of solid matter, which is deposited in the Gulf of Mexico 
and must fill it up in time." 

"Yes," echoed Frank; "and I've read about it, too. If you look on 



THE MOUTH OF THE HOOGLY. 



319 




320 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 




SCENE OX THE HOOGLY. 



the map of any country where there is a large river, you will see that 
it is pushed way out into the sea, and is generally divided into several 
mouths. This is the case with the Mississippi, the Nile, the Ganges, the 
Indus, the Mekong, and lots of others. The Amazon has a broad delta, 
as its mouth is 180 miles wide, and contains an immense island that was 
formed by the earth brought down from the interior ages and ages ago. 
What is that ?" 

He pointed directly ahead of the steamer to a spot on the bank where 
a flag appeared to be waving from a mast. 

" I presume it is Diamond Harbor," the Doctor responded, " as it is 
about time for us to reach it." 

The speck grew larger and larger, and finally resolved itself into a 
building like a fortress on a diminutive scale. A few palm-trees waved 
around it, and, with their glasses, our friends could see that there was an 
earthwork surrounding the building to protect it from possible assault. 
From a mast that resembled the cross-trees of a ship two or three flags 
were waving, and it did not take the boys long to realize that they were 
nearing a telegraph-station. 



CALCUTTA IN SIGHT. 321 

" You are quite right," said the Doctor, " that is Diamond Harbor, 
the station whence ships are announced, and before we have passed it 
the name of our steamer will be flashed to Calcutta. See, they are send- 
ing up our flag now." 

The boys turned and saw that the steamer's flag had been sent to the 
top of the mast, and was waving in the gentle breeze. They felt that 
they were once more at the end of a sea -voyage, and Fred remarked 
that the next thing to arriving at Calcutta was to know that the com- 
ing of the ship had been announced there. 

They passed the station without stopping, and steamed onward up 
the Hoogly. Everywhere the banks were the same, and the scenery 
soon grew monotonous. Forests and groups of palm-trees, and wide 
spaces devoted to the cultivation of rice or other tropical product, suc- 
ceeded one another as bend after bend of the river was followed ; cattle 
grazing on the banks were seen at frequent intervals, and occasionally 
the low walls of a village presented themselves. At last a white object 
was seen in the distance, and the captain announced that they were prac- 
tically in sight of Calcutta. 



32i4 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

SIGHTS AND SCENES IN CALCUTTA. 

SEVERAL miles below Calcutta the river widens into Garden Reach, 
an expanse of water that is comparatively straight, and where both 
banks of the stream are so richly clad in tropical verdure as to suggest 
the name of garden to the early- comers. The first buildings of impor- 
tance are the structures composing the palace of the King of Oude; they 




RIVER SCENE BELOW CALCUTTA. 



are on the east bank of the river, and the buildings and the walls that 
surround them are of a dazzling whiteness, which the captain of the 



HOW THE KING OF OUDE. LIVES. 323 

steamer said was not at all indicative of the purity within the palace. 
One of the boys asked who the King of Oude was, and why he lived 
there ; Doctor Bronson undertook an explanation, which was supple- 
mented by a few words from the captain. 

"At the time of the Mutiny, in 1857," said the Doctor, "the King 
of Oude — one of the richest provinces Of India — joined the revolt and 
took part in the war. Lucknow was his capital and residence, and af- 
ter the war he was deposed from his throne and ordered to live in 
Calcutta, where he could be immediately under the eye of the gov- 
ernor-general. He has no power whatever at present, but the Govern- 
ment gives him an allowance of $600,000 a year, and allows him to 
spend it as he pleases inside the white walls that you are looking at. 
He rarely goes outside, and then only for a drive along the roads that 
are least frequented by the English. He has an undying hatred for the 
English, and will not admit them to his palace : once in a while he in- 
vites an American or other foreigner to pay him a visit, but these occa- 
sions are not numerous. He is not allowed to return to Lucknow under 
any pretence whatever, and he cannot go more than a mile from his pal- 
ace without permission of the governor." 

"And I don't think," said the captain, "that, apart from the curiosity 
of seeing an Eastern king, you would care to visit him. He is a brutal- 
looking fellow, speaks no English, and is apt to be rude even to the vis- 
itors he invites to his palace. His habits of life are not of the best char- 
acter, and some strange stories are told about him : he is very much mar- 
ried, as he can count his wives by the dozen, and he spends much of his 
time among his wild beasts, of which he has a very fine assortment. He 
is particularly fond of snakes, and his collection of those reptiles is said 
to be the finest in all India, and to contain the largest serpents. It has 
been rumored that when his wives did not please him he caused them to 
be fed to the snakes and wild beasts, but the story is not likely to bt 
true. Although his palace is his own, and ' he can live about as he 
chooses, it is probable that the Government would interfere and put a 
stop to any amusement of this sort." 

As the steamer neared the city, boats on the river became more and 
more numerous, and some of them dropped along-side and made fast. 
They were small craft of the kind known to sailors as " bumboats," and 
the most of them had fruits of various kinds to sell. Bananas, mangoes, 
and other tropical products were offered, but as the steamer had made 
daily landings all the way from Point de Galle to Calcutta, and had en- 
joyed frequent opportunities for laying in a stock of food, the boatmen 



324 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



found a poor market. The case is different when a ship comes in from 
New York or Liverpool, having been a hundred days or more at sea ; 




BTJMBOAT ON THE HOOGLY. 



everybody is longing for a taste of fruit, and the boatman that can first 
make fast to her is sure to sell his cargo at a handsome profit. 

The forest of shipping, the roofs and domes of the city, and the great 
bridge over the Hoogly, indicated the end of the voyage. The steamer 
anchored in the stream, and our friends prepared to descend the ladder 
to the swarm of boats that gathered around. " How much ?" said the 
Doctor to the first native that presented himself : the fellow indicated by 
counting four of his fingers and pronouncing the word "rupee;" and the 
Doctor understood that for four rupees, or two dollars, they could have 
the boat to take them ashore. A second boatman offered to take them 
for three rupees ; the first man descended to two, and then the other 
offered to take them for one. The result was they closed with him, and 
in a little while were at the landing, leaving their baggage to be sent for 
from the hotel. 

There was a horde of palanquins and garries at the landing, and 



SERVANTS IN AN INDIAN HOTEL. 



325 



any number of porters and guides, who proffered their assistance. Doc- 
tor Bronson and the boys entered a garry, and were driven along the 
level streets to the Great Eastern Hotel, an establishment that proved 
to be as imposing in extent as it was wretched in other respects. The 
manager of the hotel assigned the strangers to rooms, and then told them 
to select their servants. As he did so, he pointed to a row of servants 




I Ml o i i i n a i n . :. ij. 




LANDING-PLACE AT CALCUTTA. 



that had filed in from a yard just outside the hall, and stood there a little 
way from the office. Frank and Fred inquired what it all meant, and 
the manager thus explained, 

" It is the custom here for each person staying in the house to have 
a servant to himself. You pay him half a rupee a day, and as much 
more as you choose, if you are satisfied with what he has done for you." 



326 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE EAR EAST. 



The boys laughed at the oddity of the situation, and then followed 
the Doctor's example, and each chose a man. An order was then writ- 
ten for the baggage, and the servants went to the steamer to get it ; while 



§tw . I 




STREET SCENE IN CALCUTTA. 



they were absent the boys took a short stroll along the street, having 
first inquired the way to the post-office, so that they could get the letters 
that were expected. At the same time the Doctor engaged a garry, and 
went to the consulate on a similar errand; the three returned to the 
hotel at pretty nearly the same time, and their united parcels of letters 
were a welcome sight. 

The whole party was busy with its messages from home till near the 
hour for dinner. Everybody was well, and everybody had read with 
great satisfaction what the boys had written about their journey in the 
Far East. Each mail from Asia was eagerly watched for ; and if a 
steamer happened to arrive without any letter from Frank or Fred 
there was great disappointment. Mary and Miss Effie declared they had 
never known a tenth part as much about the countries on the underside 
of the world as they had learned from the letters of the boys, and Miss 



LETTERS FROM HOME. 327 

Effie intimated to Frank that the knowledge she had acquired had Leen 
a partial consolation for his absence ; and she naively added that her 
mind was about as full as it could hold of what is to be seen in strange 
countries, and the sooner he came home the more gratified should she 
be. Mary had something to say about cashmere shawls, paintings on 
ivory, sandal-wood carvings, and other things that come from India ; and 
she hinted that she should not be displeased if he sent or brought some 
of those curiosities to America. She closed her letter w T ith the announce- 
ment that Miss Effie was looking over her shoulder and reading every 
word, and in all probability approving it. 

After this there could be no doubt that Frank would be on the search 
for Indian manufactures in order to afford delight to his sister and sweet- 
heart. He would have a double pleasure in doing so, as he would add to 
his own stock of knowledge while carrying out the wishes of the bright- 
eyed girls. 

They retired to their rooms to dress for dinner, as their baggage had 
arrived from the steamer and was ready for them. When they went to 
the dining-room the servants of the Doctor and Fred were there, but the 
attendant of Frank was missing, and the others did not know what had 
become of him. Consequently, Frank was waited upon by one of the 
other servants, much to his dissatisfaction : he said he had never waited 
on more than one person at a time, and it was the custom in India for 
each servant to take care of no one but his master. 

After dinner Frank hunted up his attendant, and demanded an ex- 
planation of his absence from the dinner- table. With some difficulty 
Frank drew from him the information that he belonged to a caste that 
did not wait at table, but only performed work about the rooms. The 
case was reported to the manager of the hotel, who suggested the em- 
ployment of two servants, one for the room and one for the table, and 
the division between them of the half-rupee per day. After some dis- 
cussion the proposal was accepted, and Master Frank had two servants 
all to himself. He thought he would have too much attention, but dis- 
covered in practice that he was about as badly served as he had been 
at any time during the journey ; he made a careful mathematical calcu- 
lation, and determined that with half a dozen servants like those about 
him he would have been obliged to wait upon himself altogether. 

"You see," said the Doctor, "how this superabundance of servants in 
India works; we were talking about it a few days ago, and I suggested 
you had better wait till we got farther into India before discussing the 
question. Each person in the dining-room has a servant to himself, and 



328 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



theoretically they ought to care for us very promptly ; the fact is they 
are constantly in each other's way, and nearly everything is cold before 
it reaches us. The service in the dining-room of the Great Eastern 
Hotel is abominable, and a large part of its poor character is due to the 
great number of servants ; a hotel in New York, where there is one ser- 
vant to six or eight patrons, would do far better than this. 

"If you lived in a house," he continued, "you would find it worse, at 
least until you became accustomed to it, and secured an efficient man to 
manage the servants. The man who brings the water for your bath will 
not empty the bath-tub when you have done with it ; he can handle clean 
water, but the touch of a European pollutes it, and only a person of a 

lower caste can remove it. If 
a lady sees something lying on 
the floor, and tells the nurse in 
charge of her child to pick it 
up, the nurse goes to the woman 
who has control of the servants 
and tells her something is to be 
picked up ; the head - servant 
sends the one whose particular 
duty it is to sweep the floor, 
and the work is performed. So 
it goes through' everything ; 
each one has his or her particu- 
lar duty, and will be discharged 
rather than do the least thing 
that pertains to another. 

" Twenty years ago, when a 
man went out to dinner in India, 
it was necessary for him to take along his servant to wait upon him, and 
most persons do so at the present time. The man who neglected this 
rule was unable to get a morsel to eat, as no servant, not even that of 
host or hostess, would condescend to bring him anything, even though 
ordered by his own employer. This custom has been broken down to 
the extent that you can now go to a private house to dine without tak- 
ing a servant along, although it is generally expected you will do so." 

" I remember a picture in an American comic paper," said Fred, " that 
showed how the same feeling prevails among servants in our own coun- 
try. A man who looked like a laborer was sitting before an open 
fireplace where a fire was blazing, and a small child had crept into the 




A NATIVE NURSE. 



SIGHTS IN THE CITY. 329 

flames ; a woman was rushing into the room to seize the child, and un- 
der the picture was this dialogue : 

" ' You lazy fellow !' screamed the woman, ' why didn't you pull my 
baby out of the fire V 

" ' Well, mum,' replied the man, ' I didn't hire out to do housework.' " 

"Not a bad commentary on the conduct of some of our foreign ser- 
vants in America," the Doctor remarked, " and the characteristic is not 
altogether confined to naturalized Americans. Some of our native-born 
citizens are very fearful of doing something that belongs to others, and 
very often, for fear of making a mistake, they do nothing whatever." 

The evening was passed among letters and papers, and it was pretty 
well into the night before all three of our friends were asleep. They 
were out in good season in the morning, and went for a stroll through 
the streets and a ride on the Esplanade of Calcutta. According to the 
custom of the country they had a chota hazree, or light breakfast, be- 
fore starting, and returned about eleven o'clock for the hurra hazree, 
or substantial meal of the first half of the day. The chota hazree con- 
sisted of a cup of tea or coffee and a bit of toast with an egg or two ; the 
burra hazree was a more serious affair, and kept the party at table for a 
full hour before it was finished. 

There was more sight - seeing in the afternoon ; in the evening the 
boys set at work on their letters describing their first day in Calcutta, on 
the plan they had followed in visiting other cities of the Far East. They 
had plenty to occupy themselves with, and after writing till their eyes 
were heavy, they laid aside their labor for the most convenient hours of 
the next and the following days. Here is their letter, leaving out the 
personal messages for friends, and other matters that could have no inter- 
est for the general reader : 

"We have been greatly impressed with the way that Calcutta differs 
from the other cities we have seen ; we thought it might be like Canton, 
or Yokohama, or Batavia, but it isn't like any of them. The people are 
different, and they have different manners, customs, religions, and ways 
of life generally, so that it is not easy to make' comparisons ; and then 
they differ a good deal among themselves, and you will see perhaps a 
dozen kinds of dress in a walk of an hour or so. 

" Calcutta stands on a level plain, and the surveyors who laid it out 
acted liberally by giving it wide streets, and plenty of ground for every- 
thing that was needed. The part where the Europeans live is full of fine 
buildings, both public and private, and wherever you go you see evidences 
that there was plenty of money at command when it was built. In a hot 

21* 



330 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

country like this they wanted lots of room, and all the houses are sur- 
rounded by large } r ards, with an abundance of shade-trees. ■ 

" The population is about half a million, and includes Hindoos, Mos- 
lems, Christians, and Buddhists, together with a miscellaneous lot that 
it would be difficult to classify. The Hindoos comprise more than half 
the population : there are 150,000 Moslems, and about 25,000 Christians, 
mostly Europeans and Eurasians. 

" On the streets the mingling of costumes forms a curious scene. Red 
turbans and white, blue turbans and gray, skull-caps, tarbooshes, straw- 
hats, and sola-topees are thrown together like the combinations of a kalei- 
doscope ; but the turbans are most numerous, and frequently crowd some 
of the other head-gear out of sight. Most of the natives are dressed in 
white : much of it is spotlessly clean, and evidently fresh from the laun- 
dryman •; but there are many who cannot afford clean linen every day, 
and consequently their garments are the reverse of pleasing in appear- 
ance. Evidently the natives of India have no trouble with the change of 
fashions, as their garments are said to be of exactly the same cot and ma- 
terial from one century to another. 

" The English have done much for Calcutta, and an inhabitant of two 
hundred years ago would hardly recognize his old home if he should re- 
visit it to-day. There are many public buildings that would do honor to 
a large city in Europe or America ; there are public gardens, beautiful 
little parks, handsome lawns, artificial ponds, and the like, which are col- 
lectively very attractive. There is a large open space called the Maidan, 
or Esplanade, with several roads across it, and. one along the bank of the 
river, and the society of Calcutta comes here for its daily drive at sunset. 
We rode there last evening and saw a great many showy turnouts, some 
of them belonging to wealthy natives, who seem to be fond of display. 
Drivers and footmen were in native dress, which is constructed so as to 
present the .most attractive colors in the most attractive forms. Red and 
green and blue turbans rolled by us in rapid succession, till we began 
to wonder if the swiftly-moving panorama would ever come to an end. 
Those whose rank allows it have the additional attraction of outriders, 
and these fellows are by no means less picturesque than the rest. 

" The drive lasted an hour or so, and when it was fairly dusk the car- 
riages filed away, and the Maidan became perfectly quiet with the ex- 
ception of a stray vehicle now and then which had been belated, or the 
matter-of-fact bullock cart or wagon of the lower classes. Sometimes the 
fashionable carriages come in collision with each other, but generally the 
accidents that occur are the result of carriages and bullock-carts meet- 



A FASHIONABLE DRIVE. 



331 




332 



THE BOY TKAVELLEES IN THE FAR EAST. 



ing, owing to bad management by the drivers of the latter. We saw one 
of these encounters, and for a few seconds it seemed as though the bul- 
lock would step into the carriage, in spite of the efforts of his driver, and 
also of the gentleman on the box of the carriage, to keep him out. 




A COLLISION. 



" The compradors attached to the foreign commission-houses have a 
special kind of light cart with two wheels, which they use in going from 
their offices to the harbor and back again. The comprador is his own 
driver, and it is not an unusual sight in the busy hours of the day to see 
one of these fellows dashing along to the great peril of the people on 
foot ; he is generally in a hurry, or at least pretends to be, but his hurry 
is confined to his riding rather than to his walking. If you watch him 
when he is on foot, you find that he moves with as much dignity as any 
one else, and does not intend to throw himself into a perspiration. 

" Every carriage of any distinction has a syce or groom to run ahead 
of it, and they tell us that these men will keep up with the horses as fast 
as the latter can go, and will often be practically unwearied when the 
animals are tired out. They are all Moslems, and are fine muscular fel- 



TEICKS OF NATIVE HORSE-DEALERS. 333 

lows, with only a turban on the head and a strip of cloth around the 
waist, so that they have perfect freedom for the movements of their 
limbs. 

"In one of the smaller streets we saw a collision between two pal- 
anquins, which resulted in the occupant of one being spilled out, and a 
general mixing up of the little crowd around it. For a few minutes it 
looked as though there would be a fight, but nothing of the kind hap- 
pened, and the whole affair was soon over. The natives are very careless 
while driving or walking, and you must keep a sharp lookout for the 




AN UNPLEASANT OCCURRENCE. 



poles of palanquins or palkees. They are as cunning as they are careless, 
and we have heard some funny stories about their tricks. Here is one 
of them : 

"An Englishman bought a black horse one day from a native dealer, 
and particularly admired the glossy coat of the animal. That night an at- 
tempt was made to steal him from the stable, and it came very near suc- 
ceeding; the next day the purchaser discovered that the horse had been 
dyed with a peculiar preparation that would wash off with strong soap 



334 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE EAR EAST. 

and water. It was the intention of the dealer to steal the horse before 
the trick could be discovered, and then by washing him he could not 
be identified, as the natural color of his coat was gray; the gentleman 
learned that the horse had been sold and stolen at least half a dozen 
times. Doctor Bronson says the American horse jockeys might learn 
some useful lessons by coming to. India, and he hopes a good many of 
them will come — and stay. 

"The river forms the harbor of Calcutta, and sometimes the amount 
of shipping here is very great. Nearly all the ships are English, as they 
have the most of the carrying-trade of the world, and as we drove along 
the bank of the river to-day we saw only four vessels flying the Ameri- 
can flag. Twenty-five years ago we should have seen ten times as many 
and perhaps more ; American ships are fast disappearing from the ports 
of the East, and at the rate they are going we should not be able to find 
one of them in the harbor of Calcutta a decade hence. What a pity it 
is ! as our flag flying from the mast of a ship, when we are so far away 
from home, is always a most welcome sight to a travelling American. 
We wonder if our foreign trade will ever revive so that our ships will 
be as abundant in Eastern waters as we are told they were before our 
civil war? 

" The ships lie against the bank of the river for two or three miles, 
and in some places they are three or four deep, so that at a distance their 
masts resemble a forest of trees stripped of their foliage. Twice in re- 
cent times Calcutta has been visited by hurricanes or typhoons — in 1842 
and 1864 — and on both these occasions nearly all the ships in the harbor 
were driven from their moorings, and many sunk. A gentleman who 
was here during the last of these storms says the ships were actually 
piled one above another, and that the loss of property was very great. 
This was the storm that flooded Saugur Island and all the lower part of 
the Hoogly, and caused an enormous loss of life. The centre of the ty- 
phoon of 1842 passed directly over Calcutta, and that of 1864 within a 
few miles of it. 

" Going up the bank of the river from the Maidan we pass a long line 
of great warehouses that front on the water, and come to the bridge over 
the Hoogly. Doctor Bronson says this is the largest bridge of the kind 
in the world, as it is neither on piles nor suspended, but is supported by 
pontoons. He advises us to describe it, as it will be interesting to all 
boys whose fathers are engineers, and to a good many others besides ; 
so we'll try. 

"Owing to the treacherous sands of the river, and the great depth 



SHIPPING IN PORT. 



335 




336 THE BOY TEAVELLEKS IN THE FAE EAST. 

necessary for piers for a fixed bridge, it was determined to build a float- 
ing one, so that it could be economically constructed, and easily repaired 
in case of accident. The bridge is more than 1500 feet long from one 
abutment to the other, has a roadway forty-eight feet wide, and footways 
seven feet broad on each side, and is said to have cost at the rate of ten 
dollars for every square foot of platform. The platform is of wood, rest- 
ing on iron girders, which are supported twenty -four feet above the 
water by timber trusses resting on iron pontoons. There are twenty- 
eight of these pontoons, each 160 feet long and ten feet broad ; they are 
each divided into eleven water-tight compartments, and moored both up 
and down stream by means of iron cables. Viewed from the lower part 
of the harbor as one approaches from the sea, the bridge appears like a 
massive fixed structure, and we could hardly believe the captain of the 
steamer when he told us that it was only a floating affair, resting on 
pontoons. 

" There, we've described the bridge the best way we can, and the 
Doctor says it is very well done for inexperienced boys like ourselves. 
We'll stop now and rest awhile." 



CREMATION IN INDIA. 337 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

CALCUTTA, CONTINUED.— DEPARTURE FOR BENARES. 

r T^HE letter about Calcutta continued as follows: 

-*- " From the Hoogly bridge we went to see the famous Burning 
Ghaut, where the Hindoos dispose of their dead. Ghaut means ' steps,' 
and the Burning Ghaut is nothing more nor less than a series of steps 
on the bank of the river, with a wide platform at the top. 

" When we entered the place the sight that met our eyes was any- 
thing but pleasing. The Burning Ghaut is the place where the Hindoos 
burn their dead, and it is situated on the banks of the Hoogly, a branch 
of the Ganges, in order that when the cremation is finished the ashes may 
be thrown into the sacred river and swept away to sea. The bodies to 
be burnt are placed on piles of wood, and the torch is applied by one 
of the relatives of the deceased. If the person was wealthy there is gen- 
erally a large assemblage of mourners, some of them being relatives, and 
others hired for the occasion ; all are dressed in white robes of a peculiar 
pattern, such as are worn only by mourners, and the sounds of lamenta- 
tion are often very loud and prolonged. But if the deceased individual 
was poor the ceremony is very brief, and there are no mourners, nor is 
the funeral pile as large as in the other case. 

" It is said that formerly the priests used to put out the fires before 
the bodies were half consumed, in order to save the wood ; the remains 
were then thrown into the river and floated down among or past the 
shipping. There were so many complaints of the disagreeable sights 
forced upon those who were coming up the river, that the Government 
has of late years stationed an officer at the Burning Ghaut to see that 
the work is properly done, and only the ashes find their way into the 
Ganges. 

"As we came into the place we saw the body of a man lying upon a 
pile of wood from which the flames were rising ; near the head of the 
pile stood a crowd of mourners singing a funeral song or chant, and two 
or three vultures were perched on the wall above them. A funeral party 



338 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



had just arrived, and the men who attended to the burning were rushing 
about to prepare the pile for the new-comer. "We only remained a few 




THE BURNING GHAUT AT CALCUTTA. 



minutes, as a very brief survey of the scene was quite enough to gratify 
our curiosity. 

" The worst sight of all was in a bamboo shed at the side of the ghaut 
farthest from the river, where two or three dying persons were lying on 
mats, and evidently near the end of their lives. Doctor Bronson says 
it is the custom of the Hindoos, when a man is supposed to be sick unto 
death, to carry him to the bank of the river, so that he may die with his 
eyes looking on the sacred waters. They pour water in his face, and 
stuff his mouth with mud from the bank of the stream, and his death is 



THE BOTANICAL GARDEN OF CALCUTTA. 



339 





generally hastened along pretty rapidly. If he should recover, which 

sometimes happens, after this ceremony is performed, his friends will 

not recognize him, and he is ever 

after treated as an outcast ; his 

property is divided among his !|M| 

heirs, and he is considered legally { Egg 

dead, without any rights what- jail 

ever. No one will associate with [ljjl| 

him, and he finds life such a bur- UBS 

den that he is usually glad to end 

his troubles by throwing himself jjj 

into the river. 

"A far more enjoyable excur- 
sion than this was to the botani- 
cal gardens which are on the oppo- 
site bank of the river, about three 
miles from the Hoogly bridge. 
We went there in a carriage and 
had a delightful drive, not only 
on the road but through the gar- 
den. The garden contains nearly 
300 acres, and has a front of a 
mile on the river ; it was laid out 
a hundred years ago as an experi- 
mental garden, to ascertain what 
foreign plants would grow to ad- 
vantage in India. This garden 
was the cause of the introduction 
of tea into India, and also of the 
cinchona-trees, from which qui- 
nine is made. 

" One of the finest banyan- 
trees in the world is in this gar- 
den ; it is a hundred years old, and 
its trunk is fifty-one feet in cir- 
cumference, while it has 170 roots 
that descend from the branches to 
the ground. It makes a whole 
grove by itself, and is a wonderful thing to look at and sit under. 

" There are avenues of maboganj'-trees and palms, the latter in great 






PARASITICAL VINES ON A TREE. 



340 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE EAR EAST. 



variety, and there are groves and avenues of trees whose names are quite 
unknown to anybody in America except to botanists. There are flower- 
beds in great number, and there is a conservatory, 200 feet long, filled 




THE COTTON-TREE. 



as full as it can be with all sorts of floral products. In some respects the 
garden is finer than the one at Kandy, Ceylon, while in others it is hardly 
equal to it. 

" Some of the trees are covered with parasitical vines that almost en- 
velop the trunk, and it seems to have been the object of the founders of 
the garden to experiment with these plants in the hope of making them 



DALHOUSIE SQUAKE AND THE BLACK HOLE. 341 

useful. They have done so in the case of the rattans and similar creeping 
vines, and in some parts of India the gathering and shipment of rattans 
form a considerable industry. Unfortunately the parasites are not now 
in bloom, or we might have seen the trees covered with red blossoms to 
the complete exclusion of their own. 

" The cotton-growing business in India owes a good deal to this gar- 
den, as it has helped the distribution of the plants, and made a great 
many experiments to learn the variety of cotton-tree best adapted to any 
particular soil. Most of the Indian cotton is grown on a bush, as in the 
United States, and has to be renewed every year from the seed ; but 
there is one variety that takes the form of a tree, and grows two or three 
years. It has numerous branches, and when the pods are opened, and the 
white cotton is hanging out, the appearance of the tree is very pretty. 
Some of these trees produce a cotton with a yellowish hue, while others 
are snowy white. It is no wonder that people say 'white as cotton' when 
they want to make a comparison, as there is nothing of a purer white 
than the contents of a cotton boll when it is first opened. 

"We came back from the garden by the river road, and crossed the 
bridge to Calcutta once more. Then we went to see Dalhousie Square, 
or Tank Square, as it was formerly called, and have a stroll around its 
borders. It is right in the middle of the city, and appears to be twenty 
or twenty-five acres in extent ; there is a fence all the way around it, and 
the banks are nicely sodded and covered with grass. You will wonder 
when we say that there is a great reservoir in the centre fed entirely by 
springs at the bottom, and the supply is so great that it never goes dry. 
The fact is, the whole city of Calcutta rests on a bed of quicksand, 
through which the water from the Ganges finds its way with the great- 
est ease. The tank was originally dug to supply the inhabitants with 
water, and they had only to go a few feet below the level of the river 
to find the water coming through the sand and bubbling up perfectly 
pure. The sand cleansed it from all impurities, and it has always been 
regarded as the sweetest water in the city. 

" When we reached the north-west corner of Tank Square our guide 
indicated a spot where there was once an obelisk to the memory of the 
men who perished in the famous Black Hole : the Black Hole was a room 
in a building close by here, but both building and obelisk have disappear- 
ed. You remember the story: On the capture of Calcutta by Surajah 
Dowlah, in 1746, 146 Englishmen were forced into a room only eighteen 
feet square, with two small windows on the western side, and left there 
till morning. The night was hot and damp, and there was no wind blow- 



342 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE EAR EAST. 



ing, and in the morning only twenty-three of all the number were alive. 
Several of these never recovered — thirst and foul air caused the most 
terrible sufferings, ending in death, and the name of Black Hole is fre- 
quently applied to a place that is badly ventilated. 

"The native water-carriers are a curiosity; they supply houses that 




BENGALEE WATER-CARRIERS. 



are without running water, and are employed to sprinkle the streets 
when the dust is likely to rise. Their equipment is very simple, as it 
consists of the skin of a pig or goat — generally of a pig, as it will hold 
water better than the other. The skin is carefully sewed up, with the 
exception of the neck, which is left open to receive the water ; yon fre- 
quently see these men going around with their burdens, and the price 



TRICKS PLAYED ON "THE ADJUTANT. - ' 3i3 

they get for bringing water is so small that they must be very diligent 
to earn twenty-five cents a day. 

" They have a bird here of the buzzard species which is of great as- 
sistance in cleaning the streets; he is called 'the adjutant' by the Eng- 
lish residents, and, as nobody thinks of doing him any harm, he walks 
about fearlessly, and sometimes you see him in the very middle of a crowd 
of natives. A gentleman tells us that when these birds become trouble- 
some around the barracks of the soldiers, several tricks are played upon 
them. The soldiers will take a couple of bones and tie them together 
with six or eight feet of strong cord ; the bones are then flung to a 
couple of adjutants, and each manages to swallow one. When the birds 
find themselves united they rise in the air and endeavor to fly, and their 
efforts to separate themselves are very amusing to the soldiers. Finding 
they cannot do it, they come to the ground again, and somebody cuts the 
string and releases them. 

" When the adjutant has eaten something, he mounts to the top of a 
post or some other elevated spot, crosses his legs, and becomes motionless 
while his food is digesting. The soldiers take advantage of this habit 
by digging the marrow from a beef-bone, and inserting a cartridge in 
the hollow thus formed. Over the cartridge they put a piece of lighted 
punk or tinder, and then a cork, and when all is ready the}^ throw the 
bone to an adjutant who is just finishing his dinner. Finding there is 
nothing more to eat, the bird mounts a post, and goes to sleep in his 
usual way ; in a little while the fire reaches the cartridge and an explo- 
sion follows, resulting in the instant death of the unfortunate bird. Of 
late years this amusement has been forbidden, greatly to the credit of the 
officers commanding the garrisoned places. 

" We have kept our eyes open to see the native ladies of Calcutta, 
but have not been very fortunate. JSTineteen-twentieths of the natives 
on the streets are men, and the few women that come out so that we 
can look at them are of the poorer classes. We have seen some rich 
ladies riding in carriages, and now and then we encounter a cart drawn 
by a pair of bullocks, and moving at a dignified pace with a native lady 
seated inside. The canopy above her head partially conceals her from 
view, and then we do not think it exactly polite to look at her more 
than a few seconds at a time. These are probably the wives of wealthy 
merchants ; they spend most of their time at home, and only come out 
for a ride on very fine days, or to visit the shops where handsome things 
are for sale. Their garments are generally white, and there does not ap- 
pear to be any change of fashions among them more than among the men. 



344 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



"A gentleman who has lived here for some years, and written about 
the women of Calcutta, says they are very pretty when young, but their 
beauty fades quickly ; at twenty-five they have ' crows'-feet ' around the 




NATIVE WOMAN OF BENGAL. 



corners of their eyes, and at thirty they begin to stoop and walk like a 
man of seventy in America. They all wear rings in their noses, and 
sometimes you will see a pearl in the side of each nostril, in addition 
to a hoop of thin gold that almost covers the mouth. Of course they 
have rings in their ears, and the arms and ankles are not neglected ; they 
wear no shoes or stockings when at home, and make up for the bare- 
ness of their feet by covering the toes with rings as American ladies 
cover their fingers. Their hair is thick and black, and combed behind 
their ears, with a parting in front such as we see at home. 

" Women of the middle and lower classes are as fond of jewellery as 
the richer ones, and when they cannot afford it of solid gold they have 
it of silver, or of silver or gold plate. Some of them do not wear orna- 



CONTKASTS OF THE DIFFERENT QUARTERS OF THE CITY. 345 

merits in their noses, but they make up for the absence of these things by 
piercing the ears in many places, and loading them down with jewellery. 
We saw one woman to-day whose ears w r ere thus encumbered with so 
many trinkets that they appeared ready to fall off, and it is difficult to 
understand how she could be comfortable with them. Then she wore a 
heavy necklace of silver, and a part of her dress displayed some embroid- 
ery of gold. She was sitting on the floor of a shop examining a beautiful 
shawl, and probably wondering whether she would look any prettier with 
her shoulders covered with it. 

"A remarkable thing about Calcutta is the contrast between the na- 
tive and the foreign quarters. "Where the Europeans live the streets are 
wide, and each house has a garden around it ; in the native quarter the 
streets are mostly narrow, and the houses are crowded closely together, 
with not the least attempt at gardening or the preservation of any open 




PART OF BLACK TOWN, CALCUTTA. 



spaces around them. The native section is called ' The Black Town,' and 
some parts of it are so dirty that the wonder is they do not breed a pes- 
tilence every summer. None but the natives live there, with now and 



346 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

then a foreigner who has become an outcast from his fellow white men, 
and prefers the society of natives to a life of solitude. In the outskirts 
of the city the density of the buildings decreases, but not the dirt and 
degradation. The huts of the natives are loosely constructed of light 
frames daubed with mud, and in many places they look as though they 
had been constructed by a man who never saw a house before he made 
this effort at building one. 

"You change suddenly from the wealthy and aristocratic part of Cal- 
cutta to the Black Town ; one minute you are among palaces, and the 
next in the midst of hovels. Some of the grand avenues have wretched 
little streets leading from them, and the more you look around in Cal- 
cutta the more do you find these contrasts. The only relief to the gen- 
eral squalor of the Black Town is an occasional palm-tree, that half looks 
as if it was ashamed to be here. The native children play in the dust or 
mud of the streets as though they were a part of it, and their parents 
encourage them in the sport. It is to their credit that they never pelt 
strangers with the mud, as they would be apt to do in some other parts 
of the world. 

" One of the native streets is a bazaar for the' sale of Oriental goods, 
and if you go through it you are pestered with peddlers from the time 
you enter till you leave. They have all sorts of things to sell, such as 
India shawls of a great many kinds, jewellery from various parts of the 
country, shell work from Singapore, and numerous things from China, 
Japan, and other Oriental countries. The peddlers and shopkeepers in- 
variably ask two or three times as much as they expect to get, and of 
course the purchaser must meet them by offering only a half or a third 
of what he is willing to give. Then you haggle and haggle, and after a 
while the medium is reached and the bargain closed. This kind of trad- 
ing is a great trial of patience, and it is not a wise thing for an ill-natured 
man to undertake bargaining with a native, as he is very likely to lose his 
temper. 

" There are many other things in Calcutta we would like to write 
about, but we are too. busy to put everything down ; and,' besides, if we 
told you of all we saw, it would be necessary to have a couple of clerks to 
take our notes and fill them out. Then, too, there is much to see in other 
parts of India, and we must move on. We leave to-night on the train 
for Benares, and, as our time is limited, we shall not stop on the way. 
"We send this letter by the weekly mail that leaves Bombay every Satur- 
day when the south-west monsoon is blowing, and every Monday when 
there is no monsoon. The train from here takes sixty hours to go to 



HOW COLONEL NEILL SAVED BENARES. 347 

Bombay, and so we must post our letter three clays in advance of the 
steamer's sailing." 

They left according to their programme : the regular mail-train for 
passengers going through to the northward or to Bombay starts at nine 
p.m., and has always done so since the line was first opened. While they 
were waiting; at the station Doctor Bronson told the bovs of an interest- 
ing occurrence connected with the departure of the train. It was about 
as follows : 

"At the time of the Mutiny, as I have already told you, the railway 
from Calcutta terminated at Ranegunge, 120 miles away. As soon as the 
Mutiny assumed serious proportions, urgent appeals for aid were sent to 
Madras, Bombay, and. other points, and orders were issued for all availa- 
ble troops to be put in motion as fast as possible for the scene of the 
trouble. The Madras Fusileers, Colonel Neill, were the first to reach Cal- 
cutta; they arrived late one afternoon, and immediately proceeded to the 
railway -station. The train for Ranegunge was just ready to start, and 
there would be no other for twenty-four hours. 

"Colonel USTeill asked for a delay of ten minutes, and promised to have 
his men and baggage on board at the end of that time. The station-mas- 
ter refused, and said the train must start immediately. 

" 'Give me five minutes only,' said Neill. 

" 'No,' answered the station-master, and he raised his hand to give the 
signal for departure. 

"Neill raised his own hand at the same time, and greeted the aston- 
ished official with an emphatic ' I arrest you !' 

" Two soldiers were called to stand guard over the station-master, and 
two others mounted the locomotive and performed the same service for 
the engine-driver. In a quarter of an hour the men and baggage were 
on the cars, the prisoners were released, and the train moved away. The 
day thus gained enabled the Madras Fusileers to reach Benares a few 
hours before the time fixed for the revolt of the native garrison, and the 
murder of all the Europeans in the place. The outbreak occurred at the 
morning parade, as it had been appointed ; but it did not last long, owing 
to the presence of ISTeill and his regiment of English soldiers. Many a 
life was saved by this sudden proclamation of martial law in the railway- 
station of Calcutta." 



348 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

NORTHWARD BY RAIL.— OPIUM CULTURE.— ARRIVAL AT BENARES. 

FROM the terminus at Howrah, opposite Calcutta, the railway follows 
the right or western bank of the Ganges, sometimes quite near the 
stream, and again miles and miles away from it. As it was night when 
our friends started, there was little to be seen on the way, and they soon 
devoted their attention to the problem of sleeping. 

The railway-carriages are quite comfortable when not too crowded, 
and the Doctor and his young companions were fortunate in finding only 
one passenger in the compartment they occupied. Each of the first-class 
compartments is arranged with a wide sofa or stuffed bench on each side, 
and there is a shelf or bunk above it that can be lowered, something after 
the manner of the upper berth in a Pullman sleeping-car ; consequently 
four persons are nicely accommodated, provided they have plenty of 
blankets and other coverings to keep them warm. Our friends had sought 
advice before leaving Calcutta, and each of them bought a rezie, or thick 
quilt, for use on the railway ; these rezies, with their travelling shawls and 
overcoats, kept them comfortable during the long night that ensued after 
their departure from the Howrah station, and the boys declared it was 
the best kind of fun to travel by rail in India. 

The company makes no extra charge for the use of these sleeping 
accommodations, but it does not provide any kind of bedding, and there 
is no colored porter to attend to the wants of passengers. By the rules 
posted in the carriage, a compartment is intended for eight persons, and 
when there happens to be this number of passengers the journey is any- 
thing but agreeable, as there is not room for all to lie down. At the end 
of the compartment is a wash-room with a supply of water, but no towels, 
soap, or any other toilet requisite. The Pullman car has not yet found 
its way to India, and there is a vast chance for improvement over the 
present mode of railway travel. 

Nearly every Englishman living in India travels with his servant, 
and the compartment adjoining that of our friends was occupied by a 



RESTAURANTS IN INDIA. 349 

couple of English residents who, as soon as it was daylight, called their 
servants from the third-class carriage, where they had been riding, to get 
ready the c/wta hazree. By means of an alcohol lamp the coffee was 
easily made, and the travellers were able to extract as much comfort as 
possible from the journey. Our friends had not thought it worth their 
while to be encumbered with servants after their experience of chance 
attendants in Calcutta, and consequently they waited for their coffee until 
they reached a station where that article was to be had. 

The refreshment system of the East Indian Railway is not at all bad, 
when we consider the newness of the iron road and the comparatively 
small number of travellers to patronize it. At convenient distances there 
are refreshment-rooms, where meals of a fair quality are served at rea- 
sonable prices : many of these restaurants are managed by one man, who 
has a contract with the railway company, and is guaranteed against loss 
on the condition that his service is satisfactory. Most of these restau- 
rants have hotels attached, so that a traveller may be lodged and fed with- 
out leaving the station, in case he arrives late at night and does not find 
the train he wishes to connect with. On the express-trains the conductor 
will telegraph ahead to a dining-station and order a dinner, so that the 
traveller will find it all readj 7 for him on the arrival of the train. Our 
friends did this on several occasions during their travels in India, and 
were well pleased with the result. 

The boys regretted that they were obliged to travel in the night, on 
account of missing the view of the country. They, wanted to have a 
peep at Chandernagore, twenty miles or so above Calcutta, which, with 
Pondicherry, forms the French East Indies, as already stated. Frank 
consoled himself for the deprivation by reading to Fred the description 
of the place, which is less than two miles square, and has about 20,000 
inhabitants, the most of them Hindoos. He learned further that it was 
the only profitable possession of the French in India, as the British Gov- 
ernment gives it 300 chests of opium every year on the condition that 
the inhabitants will not cultivate that drug or interfere with the salt 
monopoly. The chief occupation of the inhabitants is to raise cattle for 
the Calcutta market, and their town has a very dilapidated appearance. 

Frank wanted to look at the fields where opium is raised, but the 
Doctor told him it was not the season for the cultivation of the plant 
that produces the famous drug, and he would have seen nothing more 
than the bare earth if his journey had been in the daytime. 

Thereupon followed a talk about opium and its peculiarities, which 
we will give for the benefit of those interested in the subject. 



350 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 




THE OPIUM CULTURE. 



351 



" Opium is raised from the plant we call the poppy," said the Doc- 
tor ; " it was known as far back as the third century of our era, and be- 
fore that time extracts of the poppy were in use for medicinal purposes. 
It is made in Asia Minor, China, Persia, Egypt, and India, the latter pro- 
ducing more than all the other countries together. Experiments at its 
cultivation have been made in Australia, Africa, Europe, and the United 
States ; but none have been successful, as the best qualities of the drug- 
are to be found only in the Asiatic opiums. Next to the Indian opium 
comes that of Asia Minor, commonly known as Turkey or Smyrna opi- 
um, and some authorities consider it equal if not superior to that from 
Hindostan." 

One of the boys asked if it was raised all over India, or only in a 
small portion of the country. 

" The poppy grows in various sections of the country," was the reply, 
" but the greater part is cultivated in the valley of the Ganges, in a belt 




COOLIES GOING TO THE POPPY-FIELDS. 



of country 600 miles long by 200 in width. About 600,000 acres are 
devoted to it altogether, and in some years nearly 700,000. Many of the 
opium farms belong to the Government, and the cultivation is under its 
direct management, while others are run on private account, and a heavy 
tax is imposed upon all the opium produced. 

" The English justify their wars to compel the Chinese Government 
to admit opium as an article of commerce, on the ground that a market 
for the drug was necessary for the existence of the British Government 
in India. China was the only market, and therefore the Chinese must 



352 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

not be allowed to prohibit the drug that was killing many thousands of 
their people every year, and making beggars and maniacs of many other 
thousands. England makes a poison, and her commercial interests will 
suffer if any possible market is closed to that poison ; a weak nation ob- 
jects to killing its subjects in order that English commerce may prosper, 
and immediately England makes war on that nation. ' You may choose 
your way of death,' England said to the Chinese — ' perish at the muzzles 
of British cannon and rifles, or perish by admitting our opium. We are 
strong and you are weak, and we intend to secure the prosperity of Brit- 
ish commerce, whatever it may cost you in the lives of your people.' 

" The net revenue from opium is about £10,000,000, or $50,000,000, 
annually. This money is raised on 100,000 chests, weighing 160 pounds 
each, and the tax on the article is considerably more than the cost of 
production. There has been much criticism among enlightened Eng- 
lishmen of the means by which England raises her revenues in Indift. 
The total revenue from all sources is £50,000,000, or $250,000,000, in 
round figures, of which opium pays £10,000,000, salt £6,000,000, and land 
£20,000,000, while the rest comes from customs, excise, and stamp duties. 
You observe that opium pays a fifth of the entire revenue, and it is the 
struggle for this fifth of the revenue that has involved England in dis- 
graceful wars. The land tax of £20,000,000 is a heavy burden on the 
population, and the salt tax falls on the poorer classes, to whom that 
article is a greater necessity than to the rich. 

" We will drop the political bearings of opium, and look at the way 
the drug is made. The plants grow broadcast in the fields, and the la- 
borers thin them out just as cotton-plants are thinned in America. When 
they are of the proper age the capsule or bulb is gashed with a knife 
having several parallel blades ; this work must be done very skilfully, so 
as to prevent the knife going through the skin of the capsule, which 
would cause the total loss of the juice. The cutting is done in the after- 
noon ; the next morning the juice that has exuded is scraped off with an 
iron spoon and collected into an earthen jar, and the operation is re- 
peated five or six times in succession at intervals of two or three days. 

" The juice when collected is like thick cream ; a dark liquid called 
pasewa is drained from it and carefully kept, while the more solid mass 
settles to the bottom of the jar, and is slowly dried in the shade. When 
it has reached the consistency of freshly-kneaded dough it is formed into 
balls, and thickly covered on the outside with a mass composed of pasewa 
and the leaves and stalks of the poppy plant, which have been dried and 
pounded to powder. These balls or cakes are about six inches in diam- 



AN EAST INDIAN SHOPKEEPER. 



353 




^3 



354 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



eter, and weigh a little less than five pounds ; they are dried in the sun, 
and afterward in the shade, till the outside is like a thick crust of bread, 
when they are packed in the chests, and are ready for market." 

Soon after daylight our friends looked out on the landscape through 



fill 




COOLIES COOKING. 



which the train was moving. They saw a flat country, with villages of 
mud-huts scattered here and there, and with broad fields, where men were 
at w r ork clearing the ground for the next season's crop. The Doctor said 
they were in the midst of the opium country, and the fields around them 
would be waving with poppies a few months later. In some places the 
villages were close to the track of the railway, and as it was near the hour 
of breakfast a good many of the natives were engaged in cooking their 
morning meal. The apparatus they used was exceedingly simple, as it 
comprised an earthen pot, in which a tiny fire was kindled, and a shallow 
pan for steaming the rice, which is the universal article of food. The low 
price of labor in India can be readily understood when we bear in mind 
the simple process of cooking, and the monotony of the bill of fare. 
From the beginning to the end of the year the only food of the native 
is boiled or steamed rice, and it is a remarkable fact that he never 
wearies of it. 

A little after seven o'clock the train stopped at Mokameh station, and 



BOATS ON THE GANGES. 



355 




356 



THE BOY TEAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



the conductor or guard came to tell the strangers that they would find 
breakfast there if they wished it, and could have a more substantial meal 
at Dinapoor, three hours farther on. Accordingly they took their chota 
hazree at Mokameh, " just to hold themselves together," as the Doctor 
expressed it, and when they reached Dinapoor they had good appetites, 

that quickened their steps to 
the table. 

Occasionally the course of 
the railway took them near 
the Ganges, and at some of the 
points where they reached it 
the river was full of anima- 
tion. Boats were moving on the 
water or tied up to the banks, 
and in the latter case the boat- 
men were gathered in pictu- 
resque groups along the shore. 
Some surrounded the cooking- 
pots, and others were assem- 
bled in front of the little shops 
where rice for their use was 
retailed. All were lightly 
dressed, and it was evident to 
the boys that the outlay of a 
Ganges boatman for clothing 
was not very heavy. 

The boats were of a pat- 
tern different from any the 
boys had yet seen. They were 
sharp at the ends, rising out of 
the water at an angle of forty- 
five degrees, and the most of 
them had the bow and stern 
exactly alike. A house of 
woven palm-leaves and with a 
thatched roof was built over 
the centre of each boat, partly 
for protection to the cargo and 
partly as a sleeping-place for the crew in bad weather. The sails were 
of coarse cloth or matting, and when a boat was in motion the ends of 





BOATMEN ASHORE. 



A REMARKABLE DEFENCE AT ARRAH. 



357 



the cords that controlled the position of the sail were held by a man 
who sat near the steersman. Some of the boats had railings around 
the roof, to keep the men from falling overboard, while others were 
without that protection. It is dangerous to fall into the river, as the 
crocodiles are numerous, and have a fondness for breakfasting on a 
slightly-dressed Hindoo. 

As they passed the town of Arrah the Doctor called the attention of 
the boys to a wonderful defence that was made by a few Europeans and 
fifty Sikh soldiers during the Mutiny of 1857. As the rebels advanced, 
the party, numbering less than sixty, took refuge in a storehouse, and for 





COOKING BREAKFAST. 



a week they successfully defended themselves against more than 3000 
sepoys, who were armed with muskets and two small cannon. A steady 
fire was kept up night and day, and it is a remarkable fact that not a man 
of the defending party was killed, and only one seriously wounded. At 
the end of the week the rebels were driven away by a column of troops 
from Calcutta. Near this town the river has changed its course ; it for- 
merly flowed in front of Arrah, but is now twelve miles away from it. 

While they were riding along in the train the boys proposed, with the 
approval of Doctor Bronson, to write a history of India. " We will not 
make a long one," said Frank, " but enough to let those who read our let- 
ters know something about the country and what it has been." 

"Yes," responded Fred, "and we'll divide the work, as we did in the 
case of Marco Polo and of Cochin-China." 

"An excellent plan," the Doctor suggested: "one of you may tell 
about India under its native rulers, and the other can write of the con- 
quest by England and the sepoy rebellion. You will thus avoid con- 
flicting with each other's accounts." 

Then the youths held a consultation, and agreed upon the division of 
labor. We shall see by-and-by what was the result. 



358 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

About three o'clock in the afternoon the train halted at a station 
called Mogul Serai, where our friends were to change carriages for Be- 
nares. A branch line seven miles in length runs from Mogul Serai to 
the bank of the river opposite Benares,, so that in less than half an hour 
from the time of leaving the through train Doctor Bronson and the 
youths were in front of the Holy City. The East Indian Railway Com- 
pany constructed its line with as few curves as possible ; and instead of 
bending it in order to serve the principal cities in the valley of the 
Ganges, it connects them, where necessary, by branches. Thus there is 
a branch from the main line to Benares, another to Agra, another to 
Delhi, and another to Moorshedabad. Doctor Bronson was told by one 
of the officials of the company that the plan had worked to their entire 
satisfaction, and they were confident it had materially reduced the ex- 
penses of management and the running of the trains. 

The Doctor had telegraphed to the principal hotel of Benares to have 
a carriage at the station, and, as soon as the train stopped, the runner 
of the house sought them out and presented a card from his employer. 
The baggage was soon arranged, and in a few minutes the boys were on 
the bank of the Ganges, and looking at the curious line of temples and 
bathing-steps that form the water-front of Benares. 



FIRST VIEW OF BENARES. 359 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

SIGHTS IN BENARES.— THE MONKEY TEMPLE.— SARNATH.— BUDDHISM. 

r ]"\EEY crossed the river on a bridge of boats, and the Doctor informed 
-*- his young companions that in times of high -water the boats are 
removed, for fear they may break away and be lost, and the crossing is 
made by means of a ferry-boat. The front of the city along the river 
is about three miles in extent, and as one looks at it from the other side 
there is an almost unbroken view of temples, towers, minarets, palaces, 
and ghauts, or broad stairways, leading down to the water. The river is 
about fifty feet deep by 2000 in width, and in time of flood rises thirty 
or forty feet and increases its width to fully half a mile. The city is on 
a cliff seventy or eighty feet above the river, and the ghauts rise from 
the edge of the stream to the crest of the cliff ; they were originally 
magnificent structures, but are now broken in many places, in conse- 
quence of the washing away of their foundations. 

The buildings that rise on the summit of the cliff are of many styles 
of architecture, as they owe their origin to several different centuries and 
epochs. Many of them are spacious palaces, erected by wealthy princes 
who came here occasionally to bathe in the sacred river and wash away 
their sins. They are interspersed with temples and mosques, and alto- 
gether they present a magnificent panorama. An American traveller 
has given a fine description of the front appearance of Benares in the 
following : 

" When it is recollected that the buildings above are a hundred feet 
or more long, and four or five stories high ; that the ghauts are eighty 
feet in height, and are themselves constructions of which any city might 
be proud ; that this row of palaces, temples, and ghauts extends for two 
miles along the river bank, worthily terminated by the mosque of Au- 
rengzebe, with its graceful minars, and the whole scene was lighted up by 
an Eastern sun, bringing out the gaudy colors of the dress of the people 
and the gilded ornaments of the mosques and temples, the reader may 
perhaps understand and pardon the enthusiasm excited in me by the 



360 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



splendid architectural effect of this river front, which cannot be paral- 
leled or surpassed by any similar scene in India, or in the world." 

They had a long drive to the hotel, as the quarter where the Euro- 
peans live is nearly four miles from the end of the bridge of boats. The 
ride took them through a part of the Hindoo city where they had an 




4Vt0/M(M> 



A WINDOW IN BENARES. 



opportunity to study features of architecture that were new to them. 
Frank was attracted by the elaborate carving of some of the windows, 
and the Doctor explained to him that he was now for the first time com- 
ing in actual contact with Saracenic art and its combinations with certain 
Hindoo forms. Fred attempted to count the temples and shrines they 



A TOUR OF SIGHT-SEEING. 361 

passed on their way, but soon gave it up, on account of their number; he 
was not at all surprised to learn that there were nearly 1500 temples in 
Benares and 300 mosques, or, to be exact about it, 1454 of the former and 
272 of the latter. They passed crowds of natives in white or gay-colored 
garments, encountered an elephant in a part of the road where there were 
shade-trees, against which the huge beast was brushing his back as he 
walked along; they drove near several handsome bungalows where the 
w T ealth}^ Europeans reside, and finally reached the hotel, where they were 
welcomed by the English proprietor and his native wife. 

There was only time for a short stroll before dinner, and after that 
meal was over the plans for the morrow were arranged. What was done 
by the youths in their excursions in Benares is best told in their own 
words, in their next letter to America : 

" Sight-seers in India must rise early. We engaged a guide, who was 
recommended by the hotel-keeper, and proved to be a very good one, and 
his first bit of instruction was that we must be ready to leave the hotel 
an hour before daylight, in order to see the bathers at sunrise. Accord- 
ingly, we went to bed very early, and were ready for the guide when he 
came for us. The morning was frosty, and we shivered in our overcoats 
till the sun came up and warmed the atmosphere, 

" We had a drive of something more than half an hour to reach the 
upper end of the city at a place called the Dasasahmed Ghaut. Here we 
left the carriage, and took a boat that had been engaged by our guide ; 
the carriage was sent to meet us at the lower end of the city, and we 
were ready to float down the stream in front of the temples. This is 
a very good arrangement, as the boat goes slowly along, and whenever 
there is anything to be seen which requires a landing it can be easily 
brought to the shore. 

" Before starting on our boat journey we stepped aside a short dis- 
tance to see the famous Observatory of Benares. There is a tall flag-staff 
close by it, and the guide says that the flag waving from it is to indicate 
that this entire ward of the city belongs to the Rajah of Jeypoor, and 
that the observatory was erected by his ancestor, Rajah Jay Singh, about 
the year 1693. The observatory is now very much out of repair, and 
several of the instruments cannot be used at all. They claim that the 
Hindoo almanacs are made from the observations taken here, but it is 
more probable that they help themselves from almanacs of European 
make. 

" The most of the instruments are of stone, and the guide explained 
their uses ; but, as we are not learned in astronomy, we could not make 

2^* 



362 



THE BOY TKAVELLEES IN THE EAR EAST. 




WIDOWS BUENED WITH THEIR DEAD HUSBANDS. 363 

much out of them. We went from the observatory to our boat, and then 
began our wonderful voyage before Benares. 

" We passed in front of the burning ghaut, where three or four bodies 
were undergoing cremation. Evidently they are not as particular here 
as at Calcutta, as one of the men in charge of the business threw into 
the river, while we were passing, a lump of charred flesh that must have 
weighed several pounds. The sights were the same as at Calcutta, and 
you can easily understand that we did not stop the boat for a moment. 
The guide told us that they used to burn widows with their dead hus- 
bands at this ghaut, but it was not allowed any more, and had not been 
in his time. We asked how it was done, and he said the widow who had 
determined to be burnt was dressed in her finest clothes, and when the 
funeral pile was ready she lay down on it by the side of her husband, and 
was tied there with ropes so that she could not get away. Then the eld- 
est son of the dead man came forward with a torch and applied it to the 
pile, which had been saturated with oil so as to make it burn quickky. 
As the flames arose the crowd raised a great shout and noise of drums 
and tom-toms, which they pretended was in honor of the heroism of the 
woman, but was really intended to drown her cries at the terrible pain 
of being burnt to death. 

" The priests used to say that the woman who thus gave herself for 
a sacrifice would have 30,000,000 of years in paradise, while if she refused 
she would not get there at all. Before it was stopped the practice pre- 
vailed quite extensively; between the years 1815 and. 1826, 7154 cases 
were officially reported, and there were more than twice that number 
that the Government never heard of. The laws of India are very severe 
upon it, and any person w T ho takes part in a suttee or widow burning is 
liable to be tried and punished for murder in the first degree. 

" To prove what he said about widows having been burnt here, the 
guide pointed out several slabs like gravestones, which had been erected 
to their memory, and it was said the women were burnt on the spots where 
these monuments stood. He said there were hundreds of them altogether 
around the various ghauts of Benares. 

" We landed at the Manikarnika ghaut to see several things of inter- 
est, and among others the holy well which is said to have been dug by 
Vishnu, one of the Hindoo gods. Thousands of pilgrims come to see it 
every year, and it is said to have the property of bringing immediate 
forgiveness for every crime, no matter what its character, to any one who 
washes in its water. The water has a disagreeable smell, but this does 
not deter the pilgrims who come to it ; there is a flight of stone steps on 



364 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



eacli of the four sides leading down to the water, and these steps were 
placed there, according to the tradition, by Vishnu's own hands. Close 




TEMPLE AT MANIKARNIKA. 



by the mouth of the well are several altars where the pilgrims place their 
offerings ; and if any of them are worth taking, they are carried away by 
the priests as soon as the worshipper's back is turned. 

" The steps of the ghaut were crowded with pilgrims who had come 
there to bathe, and to say their prayers to the rising sun. The sun was 
just coming above the horizon as we reached the ghaut and paused to 
look at the multitude. There were many groups scattered along the 
ghaut, some of men and others of women, and they showed by their 
manner that the occasion was a solemn one. They left their heavy gar- 
ments on the steps farther up, and walked down to the water's edge, clad 
only in white robes, and repeating their prayers as they went along. 
Some paused on the steps and stood motionless before small idols, and 



A THIEF DISGUISED AS A CROCODILE. 365 

others, too poor to bring idols, placed little heaps of mud on the steps 
and worshipped them instead. They brought bunches of jasmine and 
other flowers to sprinkle on the steps and in the Ganges, and though the 
morning was frosty, and the water must have been cold, not one of them 
shivered in the least on entering the sacred river. 

" There is a curious stone here which is said to bear the impression of 
Vishnu's feet ; of course it is highly venerated, and is visited by every 
pious Hindoo who comes to Benares. There are temples and shrines all 
around here, and every foot of the ground is holy in the eyes of the 
natives. One of the temples contains a figure of the god Ganesh ; he has 
three eyes and a trunk like an elephant, and when he goes about he is 
supposed to ride on a rat. 

" We passed ghaut after ghaut, and saw thousands of pilgrims and 
residents taking their morning bath, and finally came to the mosque of 
Aurengzebe the Great. At its foot, as at many other points along the 
bank, there were dozens of great umbrellas, under which the priests sit 
to give- absolution to the faithful who are willing to pay for it; the um- 
brellas protect them from the sun, and at a little distance they resemble 
enormous mushrooms. We asked the guide if there were any accidents 
in bathing; he said a few persons were drowned every year by getting 
beyond their depth, and once in a while a crocodile came and carried 
away somebody. He told a story we had heard before, that a thief who 
was an expert swimmer once fixed up the skin and head of a crocodile 
so that it was a very good counterfeit; he would swim around near the 
bathing place and watch his chance to drag some of the women under 
water, where he drowned them for their gold and silver ornaments. 

" Every day one or more would be taken away, and the 'fear of the 
crocodile was great. But one time there came along a real crocodile, 
who ate up the counterfeit; the dried skin and head were found a few 
miles farther down, and then it was found how the murders had been 
perpetrated. 

"As we walked in the crowds we thought they were very respectful, 
as they made way for us wherever we went ; we afterward learned it was 
not respect, but fear of pollution, that made them move out of our path. 
You must remember that nearly all the people we see are pious pilgrims, 
who have come long distances to worship at the shrines of Benares, and 
have a cordial hatred for our race and color. As our guide walks along 
in front of us he says something to the people in Hindostanee which, of 
course, we do not understand ; we are told that he warns them to get out 
of our way, so that they will avoid being polluted by our touch ! 



366 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 




THE MOSQUE OF AURENGZEBE THE GREAT. 



367 



"We went inside the mosque, but did not climb to the top of the 
minarets, from which there is said to be an excellent view of Benares 
and the country around it. The mosque is identiiied with the history of 
Benares, as it dates from the time the Mohammedan rulers of Northern 
India captured the city, destroyed nearly all of its Hindoo temples, and 
built their own places of worship from the ruins. The mosque stands 
on the site of an ancient Hindoo temple, and after the Hindoos came in 
possession of the city again they allowed the building to remain, though 
it might have been expected that they would tear it down. The Moham- 
medans make very little use of the mosque, and of all the 400,000 inhabi- 
tants of Benares there are less than 40,000 who adhere to the religion of 
the Prophet of Mecca. There is nothing remarkable about the building 
except the minarets, and we only remained there a few minutes. 

" We went into several Hindoo temples, where sacred cows and bulls 
were walking about as though Benares belonged to them, which it really 




A STREET NEAR THE GREAT MOSQUE. 



does. They are respected and worshipped by the people and never mo- 
lested, and the result is they go around as they like, and help themselves 
wherever there is anything to eat. The merchants of grain, rice, and meal 
-& nd them a great nuisance, as nothing can be left in their reach that they 



368 THE BOY TKAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

do not seize upon immediately ; it must shake the faith of the merchants 
sometimes when they think what thieves their gods are, as represented by 
these prowling cattle, and how ready they are to rob anybody without 
regard to his wealth or poverty. 

"We got back to the hotel in time for a late breakfast, and in the 
afternoon made an excursion to the temple of the goddess Durga, which 
is popularly known as the temple of the monkeys. There were hundreds 
of monkeys all around the temple, and they are regarded as gods in spite 
of their thievery and the trouble they cause in the neighborhood. As we 
came up to the temple the monkeys scampered toward us from every di- 
rection, as they know that the arrival of strangers is pretty certain to 
procure them something to eat. Two or three grain peddlers were near 
the front of the temple, and we bought a shilling's worth of grain, which 
was scattered on the pavement for the monkeys to eat. They fought 
over it in a very undignified way, which did not increase our respect for 
them, and as soon as they found they would get nothing more they clam- 
bered to the tree-tops or up on the roofs, where they had been sunning 
themselves. 

" These monkeys do a great deal of mischief, by robbing gardens and 
other depredations, and we are told that they organize raids, and some- 
times go two or three miles in bodies of fifty or a hundred for purposes 
of robbery. They became so bad a few years ago that one of the magis- 
trates, who did not wish to offend the natives by killing their deities, had 
a great number of these monkeys put into cages and carried off to the 
jungle; but they seem to be about as numerous as ever, and quite as 
regardless of the rights of human beings as monkeys generally are. 

"Doctor Bronson had a letter of introduction to Doctor Lazarus, the 
agent of the Maharajah of Yizanagram, a native prince who owns a very 
large estate in and around Benares. The maharajah is on pleasant terms 
with the English, and with all foreigners who come properly introduced, 
and likes to show them attentions. We called on Doctor Lazarus before 
going to the Durga temple, and had a pleasant interview with him; and 
after we had seen the temple we went to the palace of the maharajah and 
looked through it. The next morning the Doctor sent us an elephant for 
a ride through Benares, and we had a delightful excursion of a couple of 
hours. 

" Elephants are used here for a great many purposes, but they are 
forbidden to move about the streets of Benares, except in certain hours, 
because of the accidents arising from the frightening of horses. Horses 
have an unaccountable fear of elephants and camels, as we saw repeat- 



A DISAGREEABLE SITUATION. 



369 



edly, and on two or three occasions we narrowly escaped being thrown 
from our carriage by the ' shying ' of the horses when passing an ele- 
phant. The elephant we had was a stately old beast who would not go 
faster than a walk, and the fact is we were quite satisfied with that pace. 
He came very near brushing us off as he went under the trees, and once 
the howdah where we were seated was brought against a limb so forcibly 
that for a few seconds we thought we should be spilled out. However, we 
got safely back to the hotel, and gave a liberal backsheesh to the mahout^ 
or driver, who had piloted us on our novel excursion. 




AN ELEPHANT KIDE. 



" In the afternoon we went to Sarnath, where the founder of Buddh- 
ism is said to have commenced the meditations which resulted in the 
religion that has more followers than any other in existence. The ruins 
consist of two towers, about half a mile apart, and the foundations of 
several buildings which are thought to date from the time of Buddha, or 
from the century following his death. According to some Chinese writ- 
ers, who visited Benares in the fifth century of the Christian era, there 
were formerly several buildings and towers here, and they showed the 



370 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 











^S%s^^SI|l- -i: f ;?ii§£ 








BUDDHIST TOWER AT SARNATH. 



THE TOWER OF SARNATH. 



371 



tank where Buddha bathed, and another where he washed his clothing; 
on the bank of this last tank there was a flat stone that showed the marks 
of the cloth where it was spread out to dry, but we couldn't find either 
the stone or the tank. 

" Of course we looked at the tower, which is very much in ruins, and 
has bushes growing on the top and in various places on the sides. There 
is nothing remarkable about the structure except in its historical associa- 
tions, and we didn't stay there long; but we have since read the descrip- 
tion of the ruins of Sarnath, and the account of the excavations made 
there. The tower is 110 feet high as it stands at present, and ninety-two 
feet in diameter at the base, and where the outside stone has not been 
torn away there are some fine sculptures, They represent flowers and 
scroll work, and were evidently done by an accomplished artist. The 
lotos flower is represented more frequently than anything else, and as 
the lotos was the emblem of Buddha, the sculpture shows that the tower 




CARVING ON THE TOWER AT SARNATH. 



was erected in his honor. There are niches for statues on the sides of the 
tower, and it is supposed that they once contained the figures of the great 
preacher, in the sitting posture sO common in the Far East. 

"Anybody who wishes to know more about Benares and the ruins at 



372 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



Sarnath than we are able to tell him, can find what he wants in a book 
called ' The Sacred City of the Hindus,' by Eev. M. A. Sherring. The 
author lived a long time in Benares, and has made a very interesting 
volume. 

" Doctor Bronson says there is a curious parallel in the histories of 
Buddhism and Christianity — that neither of them is the religion of the 
city of its origin. Benares was the sacred city of the Bramins before 
Buddha was born, just as Jerusalem was the sacred city of the Jews. In 
each city a new religion was developed, and missionaries went out to in- 
struct the people; Buddhism was finally driven out of Benares in much 
the same way as Christianity was expelled from Jerusalem. Buddhism 
does not exist at Benares to-day, nor has there been more than a trace of 
it for the last thousand years ; the Braminism that followed its expul- 
sion was worse than that which preceded it, and consequently India 
gained nothing at all by the reformation." 








WATER-BEARING OX AT BENARES. 



OTHEE SIGHTS IN BENARES. 



373 



CHAPTER XXX. 

BENAEES TO LUCKNOW.— SIGHTS IN THE CAPITAL OF OUDE.— THE 
BELIEF OF LUCKNOW.— KA VAN AGH'S STORY. 

AFTER the foregoing letter was completed our young friends devoted 
another day to sight- seeing in Benares in company with Doctor 
Bronson. They went through the narrow streets, where it is impossible 
for carriages to circulate, and were jostled by the sacred cattle that fre- 
quently blocked the way; the pilgrims gave them a wide berth for the 
reasons already stated, but the animals were not so particular. They saw 
temples and shrines in great number, and readily accepted the statement 




A JEWELLER OV BENARES. 



that Benares was wholly given to idolatry, and was the holiest city of 
India in the eyes of the natives. They gazed upon the devotees that 



374 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

thronged the streets and crowded to the bank of the river, and now and 
then saw a dying Hindoo who was being carried to the ghauts, that he 
might breathe his last with his eyes fixed on the sacred stream. 

Frank had heard of the fine shawls, jewellery, and beautiful brass- 
work of Benares, and, with the last letter of Mary and Miss Effie in his 
mind, he was impatient to visit the bazaars where those things were sold. 
But there arose a difficulty in inducing the guide to show them the shops 
devoted to brasswork ; the hotel had a salesroom for the same material, 
and the proprietor naturally regarded his patrons as his particular prey, 
especially as his prices were much higher than those of the city mer- 
chants. The guide finally said he was not allowed to conduct strangers 
to any shop other than that of the hotel, and accordingly his services 
were dispensed with, and the Doctor undertook the office of guide with 
very fair success. 

There is no part of the world where one finds a more perfect system 
of making money out of the patron of a hotel than in India. Only those 
peddlers who pay a commission to the proprietor or manager are allowed 
to enter it, even to deliver goods that have been bought outside ; and 
sometimes the manager requires all payments for purchases to pass 
through his hands, so that he may know the proper amount of his 
"squeeze," and secure it on the spot. The writer constantly came in 
contact with this custom during his travels in India, and on several oc- 
casions it was managed so openly that a blind man could hardly fail to 
see it. At the hotel in Delhi the manager stood by to witness transac- 
tions between peddlers and strangers, and when he was called away for 
a brief period he coolly asked if anything had been bought in his ab- 
sence, and how much was paid. On one occasion the commission was 
handed over without the least attempt at concealment, and on another 
the payment was made behind a screen, and so near that the chink of the 
coin was plainly heard. Some of the hotels farm out the privilege of 
selling goods under their roofs for a fixed annual sum, and allow no ped- 
dlers other than the contracting ones to enter, while others give entrance 
to everybody, and require a commission on the sales. The same custom 
prevails in other parts of the East, and it is safe to assume that all goods 
bought in a hotel will be from twenty to fifty per cent, dearer than if 
purchased in the bazaars or public shops. 

Benares brass -ware is in great variety, and our young friends were 
so delighted with it that they bought liberally. It consists of trays, 
plates, cups, goblets, vases, and kindred things that are chased with va- 
rious designs of scroll-work, flowers, animals, deities, and other describable 



SHOPS AND BAZAAES. 



375 



and indescribable things. The trays and plates are sold usually for about 
three rupees a seer — two pounds avoirdupois — and the goblets, mugs, and 
vases have a price by the piece 
or pair for which no exact fig- 
ure can be laid down. The 
cheapest mugs cost a rupee 
each, and the goblets five ru- 
pees a pair. Then there are 
many varieties of idols in 
brass and bronze, and the 
visitor to Benares is pretty 
likely to secure a few of 
them to show his friends at 
home what the Hindoo idol 
is like. 

The shops for shawls and 
cloths embroidered with gold 
and silver had a good many 
tempting things displayed to 
the best advantage ; Frank 
bought a couple of the small- 
est of the shawls, and reserved 
himself and his money for 
further efforts in that line 
at Delhi. The Doctor told 
him the shawls were not 
made in Benares, but came 
from other cities, many of 
them from Delhi, whither 
they were going. He fur- 
ther explained that the man- 
ufactures of Benares were 
not at all numerous, and the 
city derived its principal in- 
come from the hosts of pil- 
grims who come every year 
to worship at its shrines. 

The boys discovered that 
the holy pilgrims were not 
onlv in constant fear lest 




A PIOUS PILGRIM. 



376 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



they should be contaminated by the touch of a European, but they would 
not even allow his shadow to fall on them or on the food they were cook- 
ing; the Doctor said that if such an accident should happen to a Hin- 
doo's dinner it would be thrown away, and the pot in which it was being 
prepared would need a vigorous scouring to fit it for further use. But 




RELIGIOUS BEGGARS AT BENARES. 



while they had such a dread of a white man's shadow they had no fear 
of his money, and would handle all he gave them without the least hesi- 
tation. They constantly saw the pilgrims begging in the streets, and were 
importuned by them ; Frank thought some of the beggars made them- 
selves comfortable, as they were seated in couples on a frame like a small 



FROM BENARES TO LUCKNOW. 377 

bedstead in little nooks and corners where it was impossible to pass with- 
out going near them. Others stood against the walls under the shadow 
of the buildings, and others were seated at the roadside, and besought 
every passer-by to give them something. The boys tried them with small 
coins, and soon found that, while they feared pollution from everything 
else belonging to the European, they were not troubled about his cash. 

From Benares our friends proceeded to Lucknow by the Oude and 
Rohilcund Railway ; it is a distinct compari} r from the East Indian Rail- 
way, but runs in harmony with it and serves to bring it a good deal of 
business. The distance is 199 miles, but so dignified is the pace of the 
trains that the journey from Benares to Lucknow consumes nearly twelve 
hours. The equipment has an appearance of antiquity, and Frank said 
that if the railway had been in existence in the time of Aurengzebe, he 
could readily believe the great conqueror had travelled in their carriage. 
But as the road took them through in safety he did not complain, nor did 
his companions, since they realized how much better the worst railway is 
than no railway at all. 

It was evening when they reached Lucknow, so that there was no 
opportunity for seeing the place until the following day ; the hotel where 
they stopped was a curious structure originally built for a wealthy native, 
and very badly designed for the home of Europeans. The rooms were 
strangely connected, that of Frank having no less than six doors, opening 
into as many halls and rooms ; the locks were very much out of repair, 
and it was evident that any enterprising thief might do pretty much 
as he liked among heavy sleepers. The dining-room was two stories in 
height, and warmed by a small stove which just served to make the cold 
perceptible; the kitchen was a long way from the dining-room, and 
nearly everything was chilled through by the time it reached the table. 

Bright and early the next morning the three were out of their beds 
and ready for a tour of the place. They drove to the most famous build- 
ings of Lucknow, and were shown through them by the custodians or by 
the guide that accompanied them from the hotel, and in a little while 
their heads were full of palaces and Oriental gold and glitter, till Fred 
thought he would have a good deal of difficulty afterward in remember- 
ing " which was which." 

The most gorgeous of all the edifices they saw was the Imambara, and 
they spent twice as much time in it as in any other. It is considered the 
finest of all the palaces of Lucknow, and its reputed cost is a million 
pounds sterling. The story is that it was begun in a time of famine to 
give employment to a starving population, and its construction required 



378 



THE BOY TKAVELLEES IN THE FAE EAST. 



■IflffllilifflllllliW 




THE IMAMBARA AND ITS DIMENSIONS. 379 

nearly ten years. It was not finished till 1783, so that it is quite modern 
by comparison with other public buildings of Lucknow. The king who 
built it invited architects to compete for the design, and stipulated that 
it should not be a copy of any existing building, and should surpass in 
beauty anything of the kind ever built. At the time of the capture of 
Lucknow the English troops destroyed a large part of the interior decora- 
tions, and since the inoccupation of the city the Imambara is used as an 
arsenal. 

It stands on a hill overlooking a considerable extent of country, and 
the visitor who climbs to the top has the greater part of Lucknow at his 
feet. There is a large court-yard in front of it, and this yard is adorned 
with mosques and other Moslem structures, and also a miniature lake in 
the centre, with a bridge over it. There is very little wood- work about 
the building, and it was evidently the intention of the architect and the 
king that the Imambara should stand unharmed for centuries. 

Frank and Fred confessed their inability to describe the building in 
words, and wisely purchased photographs to enclose to their friends, as 
the easiest way out of the difficulty. "But the photograph can't show 
the size of the building," said one of the boys, " and so we must make 
a few notes." They did so with the following result : 

Length of Imambara 303 feet. 

Breadth " 163 " 

Height " 63 " 

" The central room," said Frank, " is 163 feet long by 53 wide, and 
it is 49 feet high, with walls 16 feet thick. Then there is an octagonal 
room 216 feet in circumference, with walls of the same thickness as the 
other room, and it is 53 feet high in the centre. If this doesn't take 
away your breath you may think of another room, 54 feet square, and 
the same in height, and you must remember that this whole building- 
was finished with stone carving, as though it had been intended for orna- 
menting a parlor." 

Then they went to the Martiniere, a fantastic building, constructed 
by General Claude Martine, a French adventurer, who came to Lucknow 
toward the end of the last century and entered the service of the king. 
He had nothing when he arrived, but, by careful management of his 
money and his influence with the king, he was worth a million or two 
of dollars at the time of his death in 1800. He built this house as his 
own residence and in his own way, and the building is said to combine 
more styles of architecture than any other in all India. He was buried 



380 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



in the house, in a tomb under the central dome. At the time of the 
Mutiny the rebels opened the tomb and scattered the bones, but some 
of them were afterward recovered and restored to their resting-place. 




THE MARTINIERE. 



They drove and afterward walked through the streets of the native 
city, and were greatly interested in the industries of Lucknow. They 
passed shop after shop of the jewellers, and saw the artisans busy with 
their simple apparatus of blow-pipe and a few tools; they had seen the 
same sort of work at Benares, and were impressed with the skill of the 
men who need so few tools to accomplish what requires a great many 
in the hands of a European. Lucknow is famous for cotton cloths in 
various colors, and the dyers are said to display great skill in their work, 
and to possess several secret processes in making colors that will hold. 
They work with a few pots and pans, and the indelible nature of their 
dyes is said to show itself by giving a tint to their hands that requires 
weeks of washing and waiting to eradicate. 

They had a letter to an American resident of Lucknow, the Rev. 
Mr. Craven, and in the course of their morning's drive stopped at his 
office to deliver it. He asked if they had visited the Residency, which 
was made famous during the siege of Lucknow, and on learning they had 




DYERS AT LUCKNOVV. 



3S2 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

not done so he made a proposition that was received with delight by the 
trio. 

" Postpone your visit to the Residency till to-morrow," said he, " and 
I will meet you there and endeavor to introduce you to Mr. Kavanagh, 
the man who went through the rebel lines in the disguise of a native, and 
piloted the army of Sir Colin Campbell to the relief of Lucknow." 

A proposal like this did not require many moments for acceptance. 
It was arranged that Mr. Craven would meet them at the Residency at 
seven o'clock to show the points of interest, and, if possible, would have 
Mr. Kavanagh join them an hour later. 

At the appointed time our friends met Mr. Craven, and were shown 
through the Residency, which is in very nearly the state it was found 
when Lucknow was captured from the rebels in 1857. There are moss- 
grown and ivy-twined walls, and the shattered tower rises like a beacon 
above the tree-tops, as it rose when watchful eyes looked day after day 
for the relief that finally came from Cawnpore. An artificial mound 
supports the monument to Sir Henry Lawrence, who fell during the 
siege, and there are gravelled roads and paths through the shrubbery and 
among the plots of grass. Small columns of brick mark the positions 
of the various batteries by which the approaches were defended, and a. 
neat fence encloses the cemetery where the dead of the memorable de- 
fence are buried. 

Doctor Bronson and the youths were shown the many points of inter- 
est in and around the place. Mr. Craven explained that during the siege 
the underground rooms of the Residency were occupied by some of the 
women and children ; the ground floor was used as a hospital, and the 
upper rooms were quite untenable in consequence of the shot and shell 
that poured through them. An officer was always on duty at the top of 
the tower, or on the roof of the building, with a good telescope, to report 
the movements of the enemy, and, when relief was expected, to keep a 
sharp lookout for it. While they were standing in front of the building, 
a gentleman with a robust figure and a snowy mustache and whisker 
joined them, and was introduced as Mr. Kavanagh ; after a little prelimi- 
nary conversation the party sat down on the lower step of the monument 
to Sir Henry Lawrence, and the story of the siege was told. 

The rebellion broke out in the early part of 1857, and by June of 
that year the 'English were acting on the defensive. Sir Henry Law- 
rence had thoughtfully gathered large quantities of ammunition and pro- 
visions in the Residency buildings, and when the English went there they 
were well provided with everything except the numbers necessary for the 



THE SIEGE OF LUCKNOW. 



383 



defence. The original strength of the garrison was 1692, consisting of 
927 Europeans and 765 natives ; there were about 200 women and chil- 
dren, some of them being families of the defenders and others fugitives 
from various parts of the province. The distance around the Resi- 
dency is more than a mile — a long line to hold against a besieging force. 




THE RESIDENCY AT LUCKNOW. 



The siege properly began on June 30th, and ended the 25th of Septem- 
ber, when Sir Henry Havelock and Sir James Out ram arrived. They 
added to the garrison and gave a sense of security, but in one sense their 
mission was a failure. They were to relieve the garrison and escort it 
to Cawnpore, but they suffered so terribly in cutting their way through 



384 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

the investing lines that it was considered injudicious to make the at- 
tempt. So they remained, and as they brought nothing with them they 
drew heavily upon the stock of provisions; the whole garrison was re- 
duced to quarter rations, and relief was anxiously awaited. 

In the latter part of November Sir Colin Campbell advanced from 
Cawnpore in the direction of Lucknow, and word was brought to the gar- 
rison by a native spy. Knowing how severely Havelock had suffered in 
his advance, those who understood the situation feared a similar fate for 
General Campbell. Mr. Kavanagh said the subject was constantly in his 
mind, and he became convinced that some one who could give intelligent 
information must go out to meet the advancing army. "I went," said 
he, " to Colonel Napier, whom I had known for twenty years, and stated 
my views. He agreed with me, but did not see how it could be done. 
He said it would be certain death to any European who undertook it, and 
no native could be trusted or could give the proper information to Gen- 
eral Campbell. I told him I would go, but he laughed at the idea, and 
said I could never make up as a native. I thought I could, and asked 
him to take me to General Outram. 

" He took me to General Outram," continued Mr. Kavanagh, " and 
the general was of Colonel Napier's opinion. But I saw he was willing 
I should go if I would, though he would not give his sanction, nor would 
he ask me. He said if any one went it must be an unmarried man, and 
as I had a wife and children I had better drop the idea. I answered, 
' My life is endangered every hour, and if I go out and am killed it will 
only hasten the event. If I succeed I shall save many lives, perhaps all 
in the Residency, and certainly many of those of the relieving force. I 
shall go, and leave my family to the care of the British nation.' 

" Then I went and borrowed native garments, only one in each place, 
to avoid suspicion, and in the evening took my bundle to the house of a 
man I could trust. There I dressed myself, and mj T friend blacked my 
face and hands with oil and burnt cork. Then I went to the officers' 
mess, entered with my shoes on, and sat down uninvited — very rude 
things for a native to do. The officers commented in English on my 
impudence and asked me in Hindostanee what I wanted. I replied in 
the same language that I wished to see Colonel Napier. 

" He was called, and I talked to him in Hindostanee, pretending to be 
a friendly spy from the outside ; then I asked for General Outram, and 
Colonel Napier went to call him. When General Outram came I talked 
to him in the native language, and then said in English that I thought 
my disguise would answer, as neither he nor Napier had recognized me. 



KAVANAGH AND SIR COLIN CAMPBELL. 385 

"'Why — it's Kavanagh!' they both said together. They agreed it 
was a good disguise, and at my request General On tram wrote a letter 
to General Campbell telling who I was. I hid it in my turban, and, 
about eleven o'clock, started in company with a native spy." 

The pair had many adventures. They forded the river near the Res- 
idency, recrossed it by the iron bridge, and entered the city. They were 
stopped at the head of the bridge by a native officer, who questioned them 
closely ; Kavanagh did the talking, as his companion was greatly fright- 
ened, and his plausible story carried them through. In the city the na- 
tive wanted to go through the narrow alleys and unfrequented streets, 
but Kavanagh insisted that the middle of the widest street was the safest; 
he carried his point, and it proved correct. They came to a native picket- 
guard, and, lest the sergeant might reconsider the matter and recall them, 
Kavanagh turned back after going a few steps and borrowed a man to 
show them a short distance on the way. They were again lost, and en- 
tered a house close to a camp, where they roused a woman, who told them 
in a garrulous way, which they encouraged, all about the soldiers in the 
vicinity, and set them in the proper direction. Again they were lost, 
and floundered in a marsh, where Kavanagh carried his clothes and other 
things on his head, and supported his companion, who could not swim. 
Morning was approaching, the moon was up, and he discovered that much 
of the blacking was washed from his face, while his hands were nearly as 
white as before he colored them. He was almost exhausted; had injured 
his foot severely, and half his clothing was wet. But on he must press 
to meet the advancing column, and he knew not how far away it was. 

An hour before daybreak they met villagers fleeing with what prop- 
erty they could carry, and the spies learned, to their great but carefully 
concealed joy, that the English were only three miles away. As day 
dawned they reached one of the outposts of Sikh cavalry, and were 
halted by an old Sikh, who took the pair to his captain. Just as the 
sun rose, Mr. Kavanagh, his face streaked and spotted like a coach-dog, 
was at the entrance of Sir Colin Campbell's tent. The old fellow gruffly 
demanded who he was, and what he wanted. 

" My name is Kavanagh," was the reply ; " I left the Residency last 
night, and here is a letter from General Outram." 

General Campbell stood for a moment astonished, and then drew 
the counterfeit native into his tent, embraced him like a brother, and 
treated him as tenderly as though he had been a child. At Kavanagh's 
request he was given a bed, but he was so overcome by his emotions that 
he could not sleep, and, after tossing uneasily for an hour or more, he 

25 



386 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 




THE RELIEF CAMP. 



387 



rose and sat down to breakfast with the general. "I had a ravenous ap- 
petite," said he; "and thej had so many good things that I could not 
restrain my astonishment. ' Marmalade !' I said ; ' have you real marma- 
lade?' 'Where did you get your eggs? And potted meats! — what a 
luxury !' I went on in this way while the general was asking about 
the Residency, and the rebels, and the road to Lucknow ; and altogether 




AN OLD SIKH. 



the story was a fragmentary one. Afterward we went over it better, 
and the general made his plans. 

"Officers and men wanted to see me, and I asked if I could take a 
stroll through the camp. ' Not without me,' said Sir Colin ; ' the officers 
will ask all sorts of questions if you go alone, and then each one will have 
his plan for entering Lucknow. I propose to do my own planning, and 



388 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

when yon go through the camp you go with me, so that no one can talk 
to you.' With this arrangement we went through the camp, and satisfied 
their curiosity to see me. 

"When I left the Residency it was arranged that my wife should 
know nothing of my departure till it was certain that I had succeeded 
or was dead. Three miles out on the Cawnpore road was the Alumbagh, 
a fortified garden, where Havelock left his heavy baggage, with a guard 
of a hundred men. There was a semaphore telegraph there to com- 
municate with the Residency, and I arranged to call at the Alumbagh 
and have them telegraph my arrival ; but I found it so closely invested 
by the rebels that I could not enter, and so kept straight on to General 
Campbell. 

" When I told him about it he instantly ordered a column of Sikh 
cavalry to cut their way into the Alumbagh, and have them telegraph 
that I was safe. All the morning they had been asking from the Resi- 
dency, ' Has Kavanagh arrived V The answers were unintelligible, as 
they knew nothing about Kavanagh ; General Outram and Colonel Na- 
pier feared I had been killed, and so did the other officers who knew 
about my departure. All were terribly anxious, and when about eleven 
o'clock the semaphore spelled out, 'Kavanagh has reached Sir Colin 
safely,' those strong fellows cried like children, and hugged each other 
with joy. One of them ran to tell my wife, who rubbed her eyes in 
astonishment, as she supposed all the time that I was on duty in the 
trenches. When she knew the story she sat down and cried too." 

As he reached this point in the story his voice choked, and the tears 
stood in his eyes. His listeners were likewise moist in the eyelids, and 
did not venture to speak. Doctor Bronson kept counting the links 
of his watch-chain, but could not make them out twice alike, and the 
boys were looking vacantly at the ground, as though they were not ex- 
pecting to find anything there. There was a silence of several minutes, 
and then the music of a military band sounded in the distance, and all 
raised their heads. Nearer and nearer came the band, and louder grew 
the sounds. At length an English regiment appeared, crossed the iron 
bridge over the Goomtee River, and came on and on till it passed close 
to the Residency. "Let us go and see it," said Kavanagh, and the party 
rose and walked down the lawn to the roadside. 

As the soldiers marched past where they stood, the veteran's eye grew 
bright and the blood rose to his face ; he was ten years younger in a few 
minutes, and his thoughts evidently carried him back to the days when 
the sound of the Scottish bagpipes was borne on the Indian breeze, and 



THE STOEY OF JESSIE BROWN. 380 

Havelock's army came to the relief of the beleaguered garrison. And 
while they silently gazed on the moving column, with its flashing rifles 
and waving banners, Frank was conning over in his memory the lines of 
Whittier, wherein is narrated the story of the Scotch girl at Lucknow, 
whose ears heard the music of her childhood long before it was distin- 
guished by her companions : 

" Dinna ye hear it ? Dinna ye hear it ? 
The pipes o' Havelock sound ?" 

Then they strolled back to the Residency, where Kavanagh told the 
story of the relief; of the capture of the various rebel positions; the meet- 
ing of General Campbell with Generals Havelock and Outram ; of the 
retirement in the night, the march to Cawnpore, the terrible revenge of 
the British troops on the rebels, and the return of the army in the fol- 
lowing spring. And then, with a hearty hand -shake and farewell, he 
said good-bye, mounted his horse, which a native groom was holding close 
by, and galloped off toward the city. This was the man who ventured 
through the closely-drawn lines of 50,000 rebel sepoys, where discovery 
would have been certain death, and most probably death by torture. 



390 THE BOY TEAVELLEES IN THE FAR EAST. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

LUCKNOW TO CAWNPORE AND AGRA.— TAJ MAHAL AND FUTTEHPOOR 

SIKRA. 

FROM Lucknow to Cawnpore our friends had a ride of a little over 
two hours, through a fertile country, which was quite flat and uninter- 
esting — a repetition of the journey from Benares to Lucknow. Cawnpore 
stands on a level plain, on the right bank of the Ganges, and covers a 
large area of ground ; it would be almost without interest were it not for 
the terrible atrocities of Xena Sahib and his followers during the Mutiny. 
A sad prominence was given to Cawnpore in 1857, so that few travellers 
will care to pass it without looking at the memorials of the events which 
at one time agitated the whole civilized world. 

A couple of hours will suffice for seeing the points of interest,' and it 
happened that the train for the north gave the Doctor and his young 
companions all the time they needed for the excursion. They engaged 
a carriage and started at once, and as they rode along the Doctor told in 
brief the story of Cawnpore. 

Xena Sahib was a native prince of enormous wealth ; a few years 
before the Mutiny he had a lawsuit with the East India Company, which 
was decided against him, and from that time he had the most bitter ha- 
tred for the English, though he associated freely with them, and pro- 
fessed the warmest friendship. He entertained them often at his palace, 
which was filled with European furniture and pictures, and when the re- 
bellion broke out no one supposed he had favored it or would take any 
part in the hostilities. 

General Wheeler, who commanded Cawnpore at that time, was so im- 
pressed with the Xena's loyalty that he asked him for a guard of cavalry 
to protect the treasury, and it was promptly given. The revolt began 
on the 4th of June : the native cavalry burnt their barracks and buildings 
near them. The other troops joined them, and then all united with the 
Xena's soldiers in plundering the treasury. The English gathered in an 
intrenchment, and on the 6th of June they were attacked by Xena Sa- 



NENA SAHIB. 



391 



hib's troops, the Nona himself taking command, and directing the assault. 
For three weeks it was kept up, and the sufferings of the English were 
terrible. Men, women, and children were crowded together in a small 
intrenchment, with no shelter from the terrible heat of the summer sun, 
and many of them died of exposure. 

On the 27th of June the attack was suspended for a moment, and a 
letter came from the Nena offering safe -conduct to Allahabad for the 
garrison, if it would surrender. The terms were accepted, and the garri- 
son went to some boats that were waiting at the river's bank a mile away. 
As soon as they were on board it was found that the boats were fast in 




LOW-CASTE INHABITANTS OF CAWNPORE. 



the sand, and before they could be moved the rebels began firing upon 
them, and at the same time threw torches on the thatched roofs, which 
instantly blazed up. Out of two hundred persons in all, only four 
escaped. 

From this time to the middle of July Nena Sahib was master of 
Cawnpore. He amused himself by butchering all the Englishmen that 
fell into his hands, and devised the most cruel forms of torture for this 
bloody work. The women and children were kept prisoners in a build- 
ing that had formerly been an assembly-room, and on the night of the 



392 



THE BOY TKAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



16th of July, when it was found that Havelock's troops were advancing,, 
and the rebel army was being defeated, the order was given for their 




THE MEMORIAL WELL AT CAWNPOKE. 



slaughter. The bodies of the victims were thrown into a well near the 
building; not only the dead but the living were thrown there, and when 
the English entered the place they were told by some of the natives how 
the butchery had been conducted, and that for hours afterward any one 
passing the well could hear the sound of groaning. 

The carriage took our friends to General Wheeler's intrenchment, 
where a memorial church has since been erected, to the ghaut, or landing- 
steps, where the massacre on the boats was perpetrated, and then to the 



SIGHTS AT AGRA. 393 

scene of the worst butchery near the terrible well. The building has 
disappeared, and in its place is a cemetery containing the graves of those 
who perished there. Frank observed that many of the graves were name- 
less, and the guide said that the remains of only a few of the victims 
could be recognized. Over the well is a stone platform supporting the 
figure of an angel, and around the platform is an octagonal screen of mar- 
ble of beautiful design. An inscription on the pedestal of the statue 
makes the melancholy record of the casting of "a great company of 
Christian people, chiefly women and children," into the well by the or- 
ders of the rebel Nena Sahib. 

There is nothing of special interest in the hundred miles between 
Cawnpore and Agra, as the country presents the same features of flatness 
and monotony it has hitherto displayed. It was evening when our 
friends reached the city; they had hoped for daylight in order to have 
a distant view of the Taj Mahal, but were doomed to disappointment. 
This did not greatly matter, however, as they were sure to have all kinds 
of views of the famous mausoleum during their stay, and they went to 
bed and slept soundly. 

Their first excursion in the morning was to the Fort of Agra, which 
includes the palace, the Pearl Mosque, and several other buildings of more 
or less interest; its walls are of red sandstone and of massive construc- 
tion, so that they have suffered very little during the three centuries the 
fort has existed. Several hours were spent inside the fort, and there was 
so much to attract their attention that the boys could hardly realize how 
rapidly the time had passed. They agreed with the Doctor that the 
Motee Musjid, or Pearl Mosque, was the finest of all the buildings within 
the walls of the fort, and were ready to adopt the words of Bayard Tay- 
lor, who pronounced it the pearl of all mosques of small dimensions, and 
absolutely perfect in style and proportions. 

Next to the Taj Mahal, the Motee Musjid is the great attraction of 
Agra. It stands close to the wall of the fort, and its three domes have 
been compared to bubbles that might be blown away by a gust of wind. 
Domes, roof, walls, pillars, floors, and all are of white marble, and the 
whole work is finished as finely as though intended for examination 
under a microscope. It is not a closed building, like the mosques of 
Cairo and Constantinople; one side is quite open to a large quadrangle, 
and as you stand in the latter, with the sun of India beating down on 
your head, you can see to the very depths of all the arches that support 
the domes and roof. Doctor Bronson said it was a most perfect speci- 
men of the Saracenic arch, and the boys found that as the arches cut 

9.5* 



394 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

into each other the perspective from any point of view was absolutely 
bewildering. 

They ended their visit to the Pearl Mosque by climbing the roof, 
and looking down the river some two miles or more, where the Taj Mahal 
glistened in the sunlight and pushed its dome-like globe far into the sky. 
In the afternoon they visited the Taj, and remained there till the snn was 
setting : they went there again and again during the three or four days 
they remained at Agra, and when at last they left the city their curiosity 
and their love of the beautiful tomb of the wife of Shah Jehan were far. 
from satisfied. Frank was the historian of this part of their travels, as 
we will learn by the following letter : 

" I thought we had seen several beautiful structures in our travels 
thus far, and so we have ; but none of them can compare with the Taj 
Mahal. Thanks to the care bestowed upon it by the East Indian Govern- 
ment, it is as perfect to-day as it was 200 years ago, when the builders 
delivered it to the emperor who ordered it. It is not a mosque but a 
tomb, and it is the handsomest tomb in the world. That you may know 
how it happened to be built, I will tell you something of its history. 

"Shah Jehan, one of the Mogul Emperors of India, was married, in 
1615, to Moomtaz-i- Mahal. They lived very happily together till she died, 
in 1629, and then the emperor determined to build her the finest tomb 
the world had ever seen, in the garden that had been her favorite resort. 
He summoned all the best architects of the time, and asked them to com- 
pete for the contract ; his choice fell on Eesa Mohumed Effendi, who 
had been sent to him by the Sultan of Turkey. Several years were con- 
sumed in preparing the plans, more in collecting the necessary materials, 
and more in the work of construction, so that the building was not fin- 
ished till upward of twenty years after the death of the lady in whose 
honor it was erected. 

" Various figures are given for the cost, and the majority of them are 
not far from $15,000,000. It is said that 20,000 workmen were em- 
ployed for twenty -two years in collecting materials and building the 
Taj Mahal; and as nearly all the labor was forced, there was great dis- 
tress and mortality in the surrounding country. Doubtless the peas- 
antry had little cause to revere the memory of the queen whose death 
brought them so much calamity. A poet represents them as saying, 

"'Have mercy, God, on our distress, 
For we, too, die with, our princess.' 

"It is a perfect building and not a ruin, and it is hard to believe that 



THE TOMB OF MOOMTAZ-I-MAHAL. 



395 




396 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



it is more than 200 years since the lovely Moomtaz-i-Mahal was laid here 
to rest. The situation contributes largely to the general effect of the 
work. The Taj stands on the bank of the Jumna River, and in the 
midst of a plain which is unbroken in every direction except by the Fort 
of Agra, and a few low hillocks. No matter from what direction yon 
approach it, the Taj is visible for miles, and its dazzling whiteness is more 
impressive from a distant than in a near view. 

"It is at the end of a large garden where Moomtaz loved to wander. 




GATE-WAT OF GARDEN, TAJ MAHAL. 



You pass a massive gate-way— itself a fine work of architecture— and look 
along an avenue of cypresses at the building of which you have heard so 
much. The view is somewhat spoiled by the garden, as you see only the 
tops of the minarets, and less than half the building itself. The best 
view is from the other side of the river, as it is quite unobstructed, and 
no part of the grand spectacle is lost. The central building and all its 
surroundings are included, and it is quite possible that the architect made 
his plans from this stand-point, 

" First there is a broad platform of red sandstone at the end of the 



DIMENSIONS OF THE TAJ MAHAL. 



39" 



garden, and about four feet above it. On this there is a marble platform 
eighteen feet high and 313 feet square, white marble entirely, or at least 
externally. There is a tower or minaret 137 feet high at each corner of 
this platform, and the building in the centre is 186 feet square, except 
that the corners are cut off opposite each of the towers. The mausoleum 
thus takes the form of an octagon, with four of its sides broader than the 
other four. Each of the broad sides has a grand entrance like a half-dome, 
that rises nearly to the cornice, while on each side of the entrance there 
are two arches, one above the other. Around this magnificent door-way 
are Arabic inscriptions, consisting of black marble inlaid upon pure white, 
and the spaces left by the curving of the arches are similarly ornamented 
with mosaic scroll-work. It is said that the whole of the Koran, or Mo- 
hammedan Bible, is on the walls of the Taj, and all of it inlaid in stone. 
" There is a dome at each of the four corners of the building, while 





FRONT VIEW OF THE TAJ MAHAL. 



there is a large one in the centre that swells from its base, so that at a 
distance it looks like a ball suspended in the air. The architect's attempt 



398 



THE BOY 'TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



in the construction of this great central sphere was as daring as it is suc- 
cessful. Doctor Bronson says that of all the domes he has seen in other 
parts of the world, none can compare in beauty with that of the Taj. 

"Now picture the above in your mind if you can, and then add a 
mosque of red sandstone on either side, and on the level of the lower 
platform. I say ' on either side ' for completing the idea at the risk of 




WMwi 



fMwM Iffmmm /# % 



'^Wsmm. i\ 



*~^4 






:,-•; a 



\ <% 



w ^ 



THE PRINCESS OF SHAH JEHAN. 



incorrectness. The building to our left, as we look from across the river, 
is really a mosque, and was intended for purposes of worship, while that 
on the right is of no sanctity whatever ; it was simply erected for the ar- 
tistic completeness of the picture, and is known as the Jowab, or 'Answer.' 
Without these buildings the Taj appears too high for its breadth, but when 
they come in view the effect is perfect. Height and breadth are exactly 
proportioned, and it would need a very bold critic to suggest an alteration. 



WONDERFUL ECHO IN THE DOME. 399 

" The tombs of Shah Jehan and his wife are in a vault beneath the 
floor, while the monuments for show are on the floor itself, and sur- 
rounded with a marble screen. If you have any doubt about the build- 
ing having been erected for the lady, you will find it vanish as you enter ; 
her tomb and monument are exactly beneath the centre of the dome, 
while those of her disconsolate husband are at one side. And here again 
is a marvel of the Taj workmanship ; tombs, monuments, screen, walls, 
and pillars are covered with mosaic work, chiefly of flowers and scrolls, 
with many passages from the Koran. The scriptural texts are in black 
marble, but the flowers and scrolls are of jasper, carnelian, agate, and 
other semi-precious stones, with here and there an addition of mother-of- 
pearl. And in nearly every instance it is as carefully done as a Floren- 
tine brooch, and you do not wonder, when you have seen it, at the great 
eost of the work. It is as though we should attempt to cover the New 
York Post-office with frescoes as fine as^he most delicate engravings on 
steel. 

" We saw a single flower containing more than thirty pieces of stone, 
and yet the whole flower was not more than an inch in diameter. There 
are hundreds and hundreds of these flowers, and there is a vast amount 
of stems and scroll-work and sacred writings, and as you look around you 
are fairly bewildered with the display. Bishop Heber says the builders 
of the Taj ' designed like Titans and finished like jewellers ;' the wealth 
and elaboration of the interior are in full keeping with its great external 
beauty and symmetry. 

" There is a wonderful echo in the dome of the Taj ; it repeats every 
sound of the voice with great distinctness, but will disappoint any one 
who tries to sing a complicated piece of music beneath it. If the notes 
are at all rapid, the echo runs them into one another, and makes a com- 
plete discord, but it is not so with very slow music. An English writer 
says the chord of the seventh produces a very beautiful effect, and it 
was this chord that Bayard Taylor heard and described as floating and 
soaring overhead in a long, delicious undulation, fading away so slowly 
that you hear it after it is silent, as you see, or seem to see, a lark you 
have been watching after it has been swallowed up in the blue vault of 
heaven. 

"An English lady, who visited the Taj some years ago, said to her 
husband as they walked away from the building, ' If I could be assured 
of such a monument to my memory, I would willingly die to-morrow.' 
They were newly married, and the husband was not at all wealthy ; con- 
sequently, the desired assurance was not given, and the lady did not die. 



400 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 




THE PALACE OF AKBAR. 401 

Probably there are many ladies and men, too, that have seen the Taj 
who would share her opinion, as the building is, beyond dispute, the 
finest of its kind on the face of the globe." 

Thus ended Frank's letter. The Doctor pronounced it an excellent 
description of the Taj Mahal, and was sure it would be read with in- 
terest by all the Bassett family, and anybody else who could have ac- 
cess to it. 

Fred's turn for letter- writing came next. An excursion had been 
arranged for visiting some interesting ruins at Futtehpoor-Sikra, twenty- 
one miles from Agra, and the account of this journey was assigned to 
Frank's cousin. The young man went at his task with great enthusiasm, 
and with the following result : 

"Futtehpoor-Sikra was once a city three miles in length, with a 
rocky hill in the centre. The Mogul Emperor, Akbar, father of the Em- 
peror Juhangeer, selected it as a royal residence, and built one of the 
finest palaces in all India on the rocky hill I have mentioned. The city 
has gone, and its site has been converted into fields ; the ruins of the 
palace remain, and are the most extensive we have yet seen. They are 
a century older than the Taj Mahal, at Agra, and are not in as good a 
state of preservation. When I tell you that for nearly a mile along a 
rocky ridge you have an almost unbroken succession 'of buildings, you 
can understand that the palace and its surroundings were on a grand 
scale. 

"To go there we found it necessary to 'lay a dawk,' as they say in 
India — that is, to arrange for relays of horses along the road. The man- 
ager of the hotel attended to the matter and sent out horses the day be- 
fore we were to visit Futtehporo-Sikra : there were two relays, one seven 
miles out and the other fourteen miles, and at each relay we found the 
horses ready, so that there was no delay in changing. We rolled along 
over an excellent road, and in two and a half hours we covered the twen- 
ty-one miles between Agra and our destination. In many places the road 
was shaded with tall trees ; paroquets and other tropical birds were play- 
ing in the branches, and several times we saw monkeys swinging from 
the limbs, and evidently enjoying themselves. 

" The country is generally flat and very fertile ; but there are not 
many objects of interest to be seen on the way. The route we followed 
is the old one of the emperor's, and we saw traces of a canal that was 
built for irrigating the land at the time Shah Juhangeer made his home 
here. We kept a sharp lookout for the ruins, and soon after we passed 
the twenty-first mile-post there they were. We stopped at what was once 



402 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 













| ' ., , ' : > 



A GEEAT MOSQUE. 



403 



the emperor's business-office, but is now kept as a restaurant for the ac- 
commodation of visitors; it is at the entrance of the palace grounds, and 
in just the place where you might expect an office to be situated. 

" I am afraid I should weary you if I attempted to describe all the 
buildings, and so I will pick out a few of the most important. There 
is, in the first place, the great mosque which some have pronounced the 
finest in India, and it certainly is a magnificent structure. It is known 
as the Durgah, and has an entrance that reminded us of the gate of the 
Taj Mahal, but in some respects it is more imposing. It is said that 
the entrance did not belong to the mosque originally, but was erected a 
good many years after the completion of the latter. The mosque is on 
the highest part of the ridge, and you must climb a series of steps to 




ENTRANCE TO THE GREAT MOSQUE OF DURGAH. 



reach it ; the view from the top is quite extensive, and would amply re- 
pay the fatigue, even if there were no mosque there to interest us. 

" Between the gate-waj 7 and the mosque there is a paved court-yard 
433 by 366 feet, and the date on the main arch of the building corre- 
sponds to our year 1571. The pavement is in good condition, and so is 
that of the mosque itself ; the Government applies the revenues of cer^ 
tain grounds in the vicinity to the preservation of the buildings at Fut 
tehpoor - Sikra, and for the last twenty or thirty years they have not 
suffered any injury. The mosque has three domes, and a long facade, 
decorated with texts from the Koran, and with other inscriptions of 
Moslem origin. It is much larger than the Pearl Mosque, at Agra, but 
not half so pretty. 



404 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

"I must tell you that a holy hermit named Sheik Selim lived here 
in a cave, and it was through his orders to the father of Juhangeer that 
the palace was built. They showed us the cave close to the mosque 
where the hermit lived, and hid himself away from the wolves and foxes,, 
and then they brought us to his tomb, which is in the great court-yard I 
have described. As a work of art it is most remarkable, and we lingered 
some time to study it. 

" The inside of the building containing the tomb is ornamented with 
paintings and mosaics of flowers, and over the tomb itself there is a can- 
opy set with mother-of-pearl, which presents a beautiful appearance. A 
wide gallery or veranda runs around the outside of the building; there is- 
a dome in the centre, and the eaves project so as to cover the gallery, and 
shelter anybody who may be there from the rain. 

" The screen between the gallery and the enclosure containing the 
tomb is of white marble wrought into a sort of lace; Bayard Taylor 
says it looks as though it had been woven in a loom, and certainly when 
you examine it from a distance of ten or twenty yards it resembles lace 
more than anything else. You never saw any carving in marble as pretty 
as this is, and I wonder that the idea has not been taken up and utilized 
by marble-workers of to-day. The screen extends all the way round the 
building, and admits light enough into the interior to give a fine effect 
to the canopy and other surroundings of the saint's tomb. The whole 
building is forty-six feet square, and every inch of its surface is fin- 
ished with the greatest care. 

" We went through the great stables where the emperor's horses were 
kept, and then to the throne-hall, the council-hall, the houses of the em- 
peror's wives, and to so many other buildings that I can hardly remem- 
ber the names of them. A curious edifice is the Panch Mahal, which is 
five stories in height, and each story smaller than the one below it. The 
use of this strange building is not known. 

" Then the guide took us to the Pachisi Board, which is a court-yard 
laid out in squares something like a chess-board, and surrounded by an 
elevated gallery. The emperor used to play pachisi — an Eastern game 
something like backgammon — on this ' board,' and the ladies of the harem 
acted as ' pieces,' and stepped from one square to another as the moves 
were made. At one corner of this yard there is a building where the 
ladies used to play ' hide-and-seek ' or ' blindman's-buff ;' at least that i& 
the story they tell at the palace, but some of the historians say the place 
was nothing more nor less than a treasure-room. It must have been a 
wonderful spot in the days of its glory. 



A TERRIFYING LEAP. 



405 



" There are fountains and pools in various parts of the palace-grounds, 
and one very pretty tank where the empress used to go to bathe. Out- 
side of the walls of the mosque is a deep pool, and here there were half 
a dozen natives who offered to jump from the walls to the water, a dis- 
tance of almost a hundred feet. They wanted half a rupee each, and 
we agreed to pay them, and so they climbed up and jumped. It was a 
fearful distance, and when they struck the water one after another it 
sounded like hitting a hammer against a board. In the first part of the 
descent they kept their limbs in active motion, but as they neared the 
water they brought their feet close together, and went in as straight as 
arrows. 

"According to the historians, the emperor never lived long at Fut- 
tehpoor-Sikra, as Sheik Selim complained of the noise of havino- the 
whole court around him, and asked the emperor to move away. The 
latter then went and built Agra, on the banks of the Jumna; the whole 
court, with the people of the city around it, moved to the new site, and 
the wonderful palace was deserted, and has remained so ever since. 

"We came back to Agra in the same way, and in the same time as 
we rode out in the morning. The excursion of the day was one that we 
shall long remember." 




THE PANCH MAHAL. 



406 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

IN AND AROUND DELHI.— DEPARTURE FOR SIMLA AND THE HIMALAYAS. 

FT was just about sunrise when our friends entered the train that was 
-■- to cany them from Agra to Delhi, a ride of 120 miles along the 
valley of the Jumna. The boys devoted a part of the time on the road 
to making an acquaintance with Delhi through the books that were drawn 
from their satchels ; before the train rolled into the station they were 
well aware that the city claims an antiquity of more than 2000 years, but 
its history is involved in obscurity until the eighth century. From that 
date it has been the scene of several attacks and sieges, the last having 
occurred in 1857, at the time of the Indian Mutiny, when the power of 
the kings of Delhi was completely broken. The foundations of the 
present city were laid about 250 years ago by the Emperor Shah Jehan, 
who determined to exceed anything that had been done at Agra by his 
grandfather, the great Akbar. The palace or citadel is enclosed by a 
wall a mile and a half in circuit, and the city by a continuous wall of 
granite nearly six miles long. The citadel has two gates, and the city 
ten, all strongly fortified and capable of defence, as the history of the 
Mutiny sadly illustrates in the loss of English life at the final capture. 

Delhi is one of the most interesting cities of India, partly on account 
of its historical richness and partly by reason of the many varieties of 
people to be met on its streets, and the splendor of its buildings. That 
it proved to be so to our young friends is shown by their account of 
what they saw and did during their visit. There was too much for either 
of them to write alone ; so they wisely divided the labor, and made a 
joint production for the edification of their families and friends. We are 
permitted to copy the letter in full : 

" Delhi, India, January 15. 

"We have seen so much here that we don't know where to begin, 
and when we have started we sha'n't know where to leave off. Perhaps 
we had best take things in the order in which we saw them, and if we 



THE GREAT STREET OF DELHI. 



4-07 



find our letter is getting too long we can represent the last half of our 
sight-seeing by two or three 'et cseteras.' 

" The first thing we did was to go to the Chandni Chowk, which is 
the Broadway of Delhi ; it is more than a hundred feet wide, and has 
a row of shade -trees in the centre, while on each side are the shops 
of the wealthy merchants. From morning till night it is crowded with 




SCENE OlS THE CHANDNI CHOWK, DELHI. 



408 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

people, and you see more varieties here a dozen times over than you do 
on Broadway in New York, or on the boulevards of Paris. There are 
men from Cashmere and Thibet; men from Southern India and Nepaul 
— Hindoos, Parsees, Arabs, Afghans, and various other tribes and nation- 
alities that we cannot name without making a long list. There are men 
on horseback, with saddles and trappings richly set in silver, and possibly 
adorned with semi-precious stones ; every little while you see carriages 
of European construction in which natives are riding, and occasionally a 
stately elephant moves along with an elegant howdah on his back. Then 
there are camels from the north, sometimes a dozen of them in a train, 
each bearing a burden of costly merchandise from the looms of Cash- 
mere, or of grain from the fields around the great city. Native buffaloes 
are numerous, some with packs on their backs after the manner of camels, 
and others drawing rnde carts with wheels hewn out of single blocks of 
wood. The scene is more thoroughly Asiatic than any we have yet en- 
countered, and the people have so much color in their dresses that the 
moving crowd makes you think of a Japanese picture. In spite of the 
show of poverty in the coolie water-bearers and other low-class laborers, 
the picture of the Chandni Chowk suggests a great deal of wealth, and 
you almost expect to see in the next moment the cortege of a Mogul 
emperor entering by one of the gates and marching majestically toward 
the palace in all the splendor of the ancient days. 

" We went into several of the shops where shawls and other products 
of Indian looms are for sale ; and we also visited the famous jewellery 
establishments of Delhi where silver is wrought into a great many fan- 
tastic forms. If anybody wonders what becomes of all the silver that 
is taken out of the ground, he has only to come to India. This country, 
with China and one or two others of the East, has long been known for 
absorbing a vast amount of silver every year ; it is made into jewellery 
and sold to all classes of people, but principally to those who cannot 
afford anything more costly. When you remember that there are 
200,000,000 people in India, and nearly all of them wear as many sil- 
ver ornaments as they can afford, you will not be surprised at the con- 
sumption of silver. 

" We bought some shawls after considerable bargaining, and also some 
specimens of Delhi jewellery that are very pretty to look at, and possibly 
to wear. One form of jewellery is made by setting the claws of the tiger 
into brooches, ear-drops, bracelets, and the like, and the ingenuity of the 
natives is well displayed in the fanciful forms they give to this kind of 
work. Then we bought some miniatures painted on ivory, chiefly of the 



THE FORT OF DELHI. 



409 



Mogul emperors and empresses, with a few faces of modern days. The 
native painters produce these portraits in all the fineness of a steel en- 
graving, and in brilliant colors ; there can hardly be a prettier piece of 
painting in the world than a Delhi miniature. There was such an abun- 
dance of these paintings offered, that it took us some time to make a se- 




MERCHANTS OF DELHI. 



lection ; the dealers came to the hotel every day after breakfast and din- 
ner, and it seemed as though every one of them had at least a hundred 
pictures for sale. 

"The fort or citadel was the next sight after the Chandni Chowk. 
Formerly there were about a dozen large buildings in it, and many small 
ones ; but nearly all of the latter and some of the former were destroyed 



410 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE EAR EAST. 

at the time of the Mutiny, or within a few years after it. The finest of 
the public ones were preserved, and they are certainly great curiosities. 
There are two magnificent halls — the Dewan-i-Am and the Dewan-i- 
Khas. In the former the emperor used to give public audience to any 
one who wished to present a petition, while the latter was a hall of pri- 
vate audience, where nobody could come without special .invitation. Both 
of them are of white marble, and their ceilings are beautifully carved 
with all sorts of curious designs. The pillars that support the roof are 
very large, and you only get an idea of their real size when you see a 
man standing near one of them. The Dewan-i-Khas is smaller than the 
other, and is more like a pavilion than a room, as it is open on three sides, 
and the wind can circulate freely through it. They say that the ceiling 
was once composed of gold and silver tiligree-work made by the jewellers 
of Delhi, and cost a great deal of money ; the same room contained the 
famous ' Peacock Throne,' which received its name on account of its back 
being made to represent an outspread peacock's tail, set with diamonds 
and other precious stones. We cannot do better than copy the descrip- 
tion of it : 

" ' The throne was six feet long and four broad, composed of solid 
gold inlaid with precious gems. It was surrounded bj r a gold canopy 
supported on twelve pillars of the same material. Around the canopy 
hung a fringe of pearls ; on each side of the throne stood two chatta/is, 
or umbrellas, symbols of royalty, formed of crimson velvet, richly em- 
broidered with gold thread and pearls, and with handles of solid gold 
eight feet long, studded with diamonds. The back of the throne was a 
representation of the expanded tail of a peacock, the natural colors of 
which were imitated by sapphires, rubies, emeralds, and other precious 
gems. Its value was estimated by Tavernier, a French jeweller, who saw 
it, at £6,000,000, or $30,000,000.' 

" When we heard about the peacock throne you can be sure we 
wanted to see it, and asked the guide to show us where it was.. He said 
it was carried away by the great Persian conqueror, Nadir Shah, when he 
captured Delhi in 1738, and ordered its inhabitants to be massacred. More 
than 100,000 were killed by his command, and history says that he sat 
in the Dewan-i-Khas with the captured monarch, while the troops were 
obeying his command and slaughtering everybody on w T hom they could 
lay their hands. Men, women, and children were butchered, and the 
property carried away from Delhi amounted to a great many millions. 
The throne was in the centre of the room, and the place where it stood 
is occupied by a block of marble. We tried to picture the scene when 



PALACE OF THE EMPEROR. 



411 




THE DKWAN-I-KHAS, DELHI. 



412 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

Shah Jehan was in the height of his power, and before the Persians had 
come to plunder him. According to all accounts, Delhi must have been 
superior to any other city of the East in barbaric splendor, and her 
wealth was something fabulous. When the English captured the place, 
in 1857, the soldiers were allowed to plunder the palace, and they carried 
away millions of dollars' worth of diamonds, and gold, and other precious 
things. 

" On the block of marble where the peacock throne stood we saw *an 
inscription in Arabic, and asked what it was. The guide said it was fa- 
mous all over the world, and was as follows: 'If there be an elysium on 
earth, it is this, it is this, it is this.' The Arabic words are 'Agar fur- 
duse haru-i-zamin ast, hamin ast, hamin ast, hamin ast? 

"We left the palace and proceeded to the Jamma Musjid, or Great 
Mosque, one of the finest in all India. It stands on a small hill ; and as 
the minarets are 130 feet high, a view from the top of one of them in- 
cludes the whole of Delhi and a large extent of country around it. To 
enter it we climbed a long flight of broad steps, and then crossed a court- 
yard 450 feet square, with a marble tank in the centre. The court-yard 
has steps on three of its sides, but the principal entrance is on the east, 
and this was the one our guide led us to. The mosque is on the west 
side of the court, and is a handsome building, 200 feet by 120; it has 
three marble cupolas, and is paved throughout with slabs of white mar- 
ble with a black border, so that its appearance is very rich. There is a 
good deal of marble carving in and about the mosque, and we were not 
surprised to learn that it took ten years to complete the building. The 
proportions of the interior are not as fine as those of the Pearl Mosque, 
at Agra, and it is evident that the architect tried to make a large build- 
ing, rather than a strictly handsome one. 

" The whole city of Delhi was spread out at our feet like a map, as 
we looked from the minarets of the mosque. We could trace the streets, 
9r at any rate all the principal ones, and our guide showed us the public 
buildings, and the points that were made memorable during the Mutiny. 
But we found our attention drawn to the ruins around Delhi quite as 
much as to the city itself. Far as we could see toward the south we dis- 
covered masses of ruins, or scattered tombs and other buildings ; they 
cover an area ten or eleven miles long by six in width, and it is said 
that no less than five different cities have been built here. Delhi has 
been called the Rome of Asia, and certainly the comparison does not 
appear a bad one. 

" Having seen the ruins of the old cities from a distance, we naturally 



A MOSLEM TEMPLE. 



413 



iilliiiiiliiisiiiii' 1 ;!':!' 1 :;?!:'' 




414 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAE EAST. 

wanted to examine them closely. So our second day was devoted to an 
excursion, and we started early in the morning for a drive among the 
remains of ancient Delhi. 

" We had our heads filled with tombs, walls, forts, old palaces, towers, 
and similar things, before we returned. The sight could not fail to im- 
press us with the grandeur of the city of the Mogul emperors, and since 
we left home we have seen no better illustration of the changes which 
time works than in Delhi and the surrounding country. Empires and 
kingdoms that had their capitals here have been overthrown one after 
another, and in each instance the conquerors have shown little or no 
respect for the conquered. Magnificent tombs are decaying, palaces 
are crumbling into ruins, and the gardens which were once the secluded 
retreats of crowned heads are converted into fields and pastures. Where 
once were the crowded streets of a populous city there are now only a 
few straggling natives, who subsist on gratuities received from strangers,. 
and the walls of the forts have gone to decay so that they would be ut- 
terly useless for purposes of defence. 

" The most famous of the sights in the vicinity of Delhi is the Kuttub 
Minar, which is said to be the tallest column in the world. We are not 
quite certain as to the correctness of this statement, and will give the 
figures, so that anybody may correct us. It is divided from the base to 
the summit into five different stories, and each story has a balcony at its 
top. The distance between the balconies diminishes in proportion to the 
diameter of the column, so that as you look upward from the base the 
column appears a good deal higher than it really is. The lower story is 
shaped like a polygon, but the others are round, with deep fluting all the 
way up. 

" The first three stories are of fine red sandstone, while the two upper 
ones are mostly of marble. The whole height of the column is 240 feet, 
and it is thought that it was originally not far from 300 feet. It is fifty 
feet in diameter at the base, and thirteen at the top, and is ascended by 
375 steps. We did not find the ascent very fatiguing, as we rested at each 
of the balconies, and took things as easily as we could. Fortunately for 
us, the day was cool, and there was a fine breeze that required us to put 
on our overcoats as soon as we reached the top. 

" It is not exactly known when the tower was begun or completed, 
but the inscriptions on and around it indicate that it was built about 
seven hundred years ago, and the work occupied twenty or thirty years. 
Evidently somebody wanted to excel it, as there is the beginning of an- 
other structure of the same character, but twice the circumference, about 



THE TALLEST COLUMN IN THE WORLD. 



415 




THE KUTTUB MINAR. 



416 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



500 feet away. The first story of this new edifice was never completed, 
and from present appearances it never will be. All around the Kuttub 

Minar there are ruins of mosques 
and temples, some of Hindoo and oth- 
ers of Moslem origin. The nearest 
and largest was the Jamma Musjid, 
or Great Mosque, of old Delhi, and 
w r as built from the ruins of twenty- 
seven Hindoo temples that were pull- 
ed down after the Mohammedans 
captured the city, about a.d. 1193. 
There is one arch fifty feet high and 
twenty-two feet wide, and one of its 
rooms was 135 feet long, with a roof 
supported on five rows of marble and 
sandstone pillars. 

" From the ruins of the mosque the 
guide took us to a well about eighty 
feet deep, where a group of natives 
were ready to jump to the water on 
payment of a small sum. We had 
seen the same thing at Futtehpoor- 
Sikra, and were in a hurry to get 
through with the ruins, and so we 
refused to witness the performance. 
The guide told us that the men ex- 
pected every traveller to pay them 
for taking this extraordinary leap; 
that it was their means of living, and 
they did not pretend to do any other 
work. The water is said to be very 
cold, as the sun rarely shines upon it, 
and nobody can tell how old the well is, or by whom it was made. 

" In the court-yard of the mosque is an iron pillar twenty-two feet 
high, with a capital at the top, which is said to date from the Hindoo 
king who ruled before the Mohammedans came here. The tradition is 
that he dreaded the fall of his dynasty, and consulted the Bramin 
priests ; they told him that if he could sink an iron pillar, and make it 
pierce the head of the snake-god Lishay, who supported the world, his 
kingdom -would endure forever. He sunk the shaft, and after a while 




THE IRON PILLAR. 



A FATAL PREDICTION. 



417 



took it up, to see what effect it had had ; it was found covered with blood, 
and then the priests told him he had hurt the snake without killing him, 
and his kingdom would come to an end. Their prediction was verified, 
for soon after this event the Moslems came and captured his kingdom, 
and put him and many of his followers to death. 

"There are some tall trees growing in the court-yard. "We did not 




TREES IN THE COURT-YARD OF THE MOSQUE. 



realize how large they were till we saw a group of natives seated beneath 
one of them, and waiting to beg from us as we approached. Some of 
these trees are very old, and show conclusively that the place has been in 



ruins for a long time. 



27 



418 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

" We spent two or three liours around the Kuttub Minar, and then 
returned to Delhi, stopping on the way to see the tombs of several kings 
and queens, whose names would not be particularly interesting to you, 
and who have been dust and ashes for hundreds of years. The Govern- 
ment preserves these tombs from injury, and appoints keepers to look 
after them ; but before the. English took possession of India there was a 
good deal of destruction and negligence. It seems to have been the rule 
with these Eastern monarchs to destroy the works of their predecessors, 
rather than to preserve them ; and if they failed to do so in any instance,, 
it was because the destruction would cost too much, or require a long 
time. 

" There is enough around Delhi to keep a visitor occupied for at least 
a week, and if he is greatly interested in antiquities he might stay here 
a month and find something new every day. We are afraid of becoming 
tedious, and so we will cut this letter short, and say good-bye to Delhi." 

From Delhi the party continued its railway journey to Umballa, 161 
miles, without stopping, as there was nothing of importance to be seen 
along the route. Doctor Bronson had telegraphed the day before their 
departure, for dawk games to be engaged to carry them to Simla, and 
when the train reached the station a messenger informed them that the 
carriages had been secured. What the dawk garry is, and what was to be 
done with it, was a matter of some interest to the boys, as this was their 
first journey away from the line of the railway. How their curiosity was 
satisfied we will learn in the next chapter. 



A JOURNEY BY DAWK GARRY. 



419 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

FROM UMBALLAH TO SIMLA.— EXCURSION AMONG THE HIMALAYAS. 

TT was nine o'clock in the evening when our friends reached Umballah, 
•*- and thej wisely concluded not to begin their journey till the following 
morning. They found that the carriages would be ready at daylight, and 
so they retired early in the hotel attached to the railway-station, and had 




THE DAWK GARRY. 



a comfortable sleep. They were called in good season, and by the time 
their breakfast was finished the baggage had been piled on the top of 
the vehicles that were to carry them. With the first streak of dawn they 
were off. 

Two garries had been engaged — one for the Doctor alone, and the 



420 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



other for the boys. They were not unlike the vehicles they had already 
seen in the cities of India, except that they were larger and stronger, in 
order to adapt them to the rough travel of the mountains. Each carriage 
is capable of carrying two persons of medium size, and it is arranged so 




HORSEBACK-RIDE IN THE HIMALAYAS. 



that a bed can be made up on the floor in case of night journeys. For 
all journeys away from the railways the dawk garry is in universal use, 
where the roads will permit, and in the days before the completion of the 
railway across India it was indispensable. It is not a very comfortable 
conveyance, but a vast improvement on no conveyance at all. 

Three horses were attached to each garry, one between the shafts, and 
one on each side of him. They rattled along at a very fair pace, as the 
road was good, and the drivers were anxious to finish the journey as soon 
as possible. There were a good many jolts on account of mud-holes or 
other inequalities, but, on the whole, the progress was satisfactory, and 
the boys enjoyed the ride immensely. About every six miles they 
changed horses ; and as there is a good deal of travel on the route, and 
the carriage company understands its business, the changes were made 
very quickly. 

For the first forty miles the road was level, as it lay along the flat 
valley of the Ganges. They reached Kalka, which is at the base of the 
foot-hills, and then began to ascend toward Simla. Until a few years ago 
there was no carriage road beyond Kalka, and travellers were obliged to 



VEHICLES FOR MOUNTAIN TRAVELLING. 



421 



ride on ponies or be carried by men, and sometimes at present the supply 
of horses is exhausted, and the old method must be resorted to. When 
the rush begins for Simla in the early summer there are not sufficient 
horses for the service, and unless a visitor has made his arrangements 
beforehand he will be compelled to adopt human locomotion, while 
others, more fortunate, ride in the rapid garry. 

There is a considerable variety of vehicles for man-transport, including 
the palanquin, sedan-chair, and dhoolie, which have been mentioned al- 
ready. The conveyances which were new to the eyes of the boys w^ere 
the oareilly dandy, and the jampan ; and while they were looking at 
them the Doctor said they must get well into the mountains to see an- 
other, the ton-jon. 

The bareilly dandy is a cane chair in an oval frame that extends into 
a pole at each end, and for the convenience of the rider the chair is made 




A BAREILLY DANDY. 



to incline a little backward. Four bearers carry the burden, and are re- 
lieved at frequent intervals, so that eight men are required for a journey, 
besides the additional torch- bearers and other attaches. For- mountain 
travel it is desirable to have each team composed of two tall and two 
short men ; in going uphill the short ones take the front position, so that 
the chair may be kept nearly level, and the arrangement is reversed dur- 
ing a descent. The jam/pan is much like the dandy, with the addition of 
a cover like an umbrella, to keep off the heat in the sunshine and the 
water during a shower or storm. 

The ton-jon is used in the roughest parts of the mountains, where the 
dandy and jampan cannot go, and is a very simple contrivance. The 
largest and strongest of the mountaineers are alone capable of performing 



422 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 




the service, and their pay is equal to that of four ordinary men who 
carry a palanquin or similar vehicle. The ton-jon is a cane chair, strap- 
ped to the back of a man, and held 
in place by a broad band over the 
forehead ; he carries a stout staff, on 
which he rests his load occasionally ; 
and his pace is very slow, as it must 
of necessity be sure. A fall would 
be a serious matter both to himself 
and his burden, and he takes good 
care that it does not occur. Af- 
ter reaching Simla the boys had an 
hour's experience with the ton-jon, 
and were quite satisfied not to have 
an extension of time. 

"A little ton-jon goes a great 
way," said Frank, as he descended 
from his chair. 

" Yes," responded Fred, " that 
may be; but a large one does not 
go a great way in the time we have 
had it, and the little one would easily beat it without much exertion." 
Frank immediately turned the conversation to something else. 
While ascending the hills a few miles out of Kalka, our friends over- 
took a gentleman they had met on the railway train, and who had given 
them much valuable information. He was walking behind his garry, 
which was heavily laden with the materials for a hunting-excursion in 
the Himalayas, and carried his rifle on his shoulder, in the hope of seeing 
something worth shooting. He was enjoying his pipe, and his two ser- 
vants were evidently inclined to follow his example, as they were smok- 
ing their hubble-bubbles, and seemed to enjoy them. The hubble-bubble 
is a curious contrivance, and about as uncomfortable an apparatus for 
smoking as could well be imagined. It is made as follows: 

Two eyes of a cocoa-nut shell are pierced, and through them the meat 
is carefully extracted. The stem of an upright pipe is inserted in one of 
the eyes, and carried almost to the bottom of the shell ; the stem and 
bowl of the pipe are at least a foot long, so that when in use the fire is 
above the level of the smoker's head. The shell is half filled with water ; 
fire is placed on the tobacco in the bowl, and the smoker applies his 
mouth directly to the hole in the shell or to a short stem protruding 



A TON-JON. 



VIEW OF THE HIMALAYAS. 



423 



from it. The bubbling noise of the smoke as it rises through the water 
gives the name to the pipe. 

Their new acquaintance was Captain Whitney, an officer in the Eng^ 
lish service in India, and a hunter who had considerable renown among 
his fellow-officers. While on the railway train he had asked the Doctor 
to call on him in Simla, and he now renewed the invitation, which was 
promptly accepted ; and the light garries moved briskly on, while the 
heavy one proceeded leisurely. 

Up and up they went, and steeper and steeper grew the road. Simla 




VIEW OF THE HIMALAYAS. 



was reached in due time, and proved to be a pleasant town in the moun- 
tains at an elevation of about 7000 feet above the level of the sea. It 
stands on a long ridge that affords a fine view of the Himalayas, though 



424 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

not of the highest peaks. It was bought, with the section of country 
around it, in the year 1822, from the native state of Keonthal, and has since 
been occupied as a sanitarium by the Government. In 1866 Simla was 
made the seat of the Government of India during the summer months : 
from April to October the viceroy lives there, and the Government or- 
ders and official documents are dated at Simla instead of Calcutta. The 
movement of the Court brings a large number of Europeans to the little 
town in the mountains, and for half the year it is crowded to its utmost 
capacity, while during the other half it is almost deserted. 

There are several of these summer resorts in the Himalayas, and the 
most of them are under Government patronage. Mussoorie, Landour, 
Nynee Thai, and Darjeeling are among the most noted, and there are 
others of smaller celebrity. For a long time Darjeeling was the most 
important, as it was the nearest to Calcutta ; but the construction of the 
railway has brought the others into notice. 

Darjeeling is about 300 miles from the capital, and can be. easily 
reached at present, as a railway was opened in 1878 to within twenty 
miles of its doors. It is about the elevation of Simla, but has the advan- 
tage over the latter that the summits of some of the highest peaks of the 
Himalayas are plainly visible, and in clear weather they appear only a 
few miles away. The highest peak of all is Mount Everest, 29,000 feet 
above the sea-level, and claimed as the loftiest mountain in the world ; 
it is not visible from the town itself, owing to an intervening ridge ; but 
can be seen from several points in the neighborhood. The great moun- 
tains visible from Darjeeling are Ivunchinginga, second to Mount Ever- 
est, and then Junnoo and Knbra, each more than 23,000 feet high. Alto- 
gether there are twelve peaks, each more than 20,000 feet high, to be 
seen at a single glance from the public square of Darjeeling, besides 
many other little fellows of 10,000 or 12,000 feet. There is no town on 
the globe with such a magnificent mountain view as this. 

The foot-hills of the Himalayas are admirably adapted to the culti- 
vation of tea, and a great many tea plantations have been established 
there. On the road from Calcutta to Darjeeling many plantations are 
passed, and the business of tea culture is increasing every year. The 
forests of the lower slopes of the mountains are fast disappearing, to 
make way for the less picturescpie tea-plant, and the export of the prod- 
uct amounts to many ship-loads annually. The system of cultivation was 
introduced from China by the East India Company. The tea-leaves are 
gatnered by women, and it is not unusual to see a woman at work in the 
field with her baby near her, in a basket, shaded by a friendly bush. 



TEA CULTURE IN INDIA. 



425 



Our friends found a comfortable hotel at Simla, and proceeded at 
once to learn all they could of the Himalayas. Their new acquaintance, 
Captain Whitney, was at the same hotel, and proved a most admirable 
companion and entertainer, as he was able to enlighten the boys on many 
topics of interest. For a whole day they were kept in-doors by a sudden 
and violent storm, and even on the second day the wind and snow had 
not subsided sufficiently to enable them to stir out to any advantage. 
The captain was an excellent talker, and the Doctor and the boys were 
equally good listeners ; with this combination of qualifications the quar- 
tette was satisfactorily composed, and got along finely. 



Vv\.X\ 




GATHERING TEA-LEAVES IN INDIA. 



On the second morning of their stay Frank took a stroll around the 
premises while waiting for their early breakfast, and came back with a 
sketch of the cook at work. He had discovered that worthy engaged 
in toasting bread, and holding the toasting-fork between his toes, while 
he grasped his hubble-bubble pipe with both hands. Frank had observed 
that the natives make many uses of their toes that are unknown to the Oc- 
cident, but this way of holding a toasting-fork was quite a new sensation. 

The boys observed that they were among a new race of men, as there 
were many of the inhabitants of Simla that had a stronger resemblance 
to the Chinese than to the people of the plains of India. Captain Whit- 
ney told them that the great majorit}^ of the hill natives were of Tartar 

27* 



426 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



origin, and farther up in the mountains they were hardly to be distin- 
guished from Chinese. Many of them wear their hair in cues, or pig- 
tails, and their dress is of the Chinese pattern. There are many different 
tribes of these mountain people, and some of them are not on friendly 




A MODEL COOK. 



terms with the English. Hardly a year passes without a war in some 
part of the mountains, and for twenty years past the principal occupa- 
tion of the English army in India has been to keep the hill tribes in 
order. On the extreme north the Afghans have made themselves heard 
from in recent days, and they may be regarded as the most powerful 
of all the dwellers in the region of the Himalayas. 

A great many people from Thibet and Nepaul come to the mountain 
towns of India, partly from curiosity, but mainly for the purpose of mak- 
ing money. .They bring the products of those countries to exchange for 
English goods, and in the seasons when the mountain passes are open 
they may be seen in considerable numbers in Simla, Darjeeling, and the 
other fashionable resorts. 

As soon as the weather cleared up an excursion among the mountains 
was arranged by the Doctor, to the great delight of the youths. Mounted 
on shaggy ponies, they started at an early hour in the morning, and had 
an exhilarating ride among the gorges and beneath the shadows of the 
rugged peaks of the second range of mountains. The forests were dense 
and luxuriant, and sometimes they were an hour or more where little 
else could be seen than the trees and climbing- plants attached to them. 
In one place they narrowly escaped a fall down a rocky slope, where- a 
few months before an Englishman was killed, owing to a misstep of his 



FLORA OF THE MOUNTAINS. 



427 



pony. Accidents of this kind are by no means rare, and hardly a year 
passes without the death of one or more adventurous tourists. 

The flora changed as they ascended ; the vegetation of the tropics 
disappeared and was replaced by that of the temperate zone, and with 
each hundred feet of elevation there was a perceptible change in the 
temperature. Occasionally they saw some curious climbing-plants that 
had thrown out numerous tendrils, like arms, around the trunk of a tree, 
and clung to it with an embrace that could not be shaken off. The 
tracks of tigers and leopards were visible now and then, and the guide 



&<$& 



':■. A.:'"'" '"'''■' 









iii». 








r^-^** 



CLIMBING-PLANT IN THE HIMALAYAS. 



entertained the boys with an account of how a tiger a short time before 
had rushed upon a travelling party, and carried away one of the servants 
under the very eyes of his affrighted companions. Every little while a 



428 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



troop of monkeys showed itself, and when they were not visible their 
chattering was heard among the trees. Peacocks and wild turkeys were 
encountered, and one of the former w 7 as shot by the Doctor and secured 
by the guide, who said it would make an excellent dish for dinner. 

A little before sunset they came in sight of one of the tall peaks of 
the range, and about dusk the guide brought them to a village where 
they were to pass the night. It was so cold that all the bed coverings 
they could get together were insufficient to keep them warm, and in 
spite of their fatigue they were out long before daylight and ready for 
the return to Simla. The boys would have been quite willing to under- 




DOOR OF A TEMPLE, AND PliAYING-MACHINES. 



take the ascent of one of the mountains of the Himalayas, but the party 
was not equipped for such a journey, and besides, their time would not 
permit. So they reluctantly turned their backs on the snow-clad moun- 
tains, and returned by the way they came. 

The guide told the boys that if they had had a w r eek to spare he could 
have taken them among the loftiest mountains of that part of the range 
and shown them many curious things. He described a Buddhist temple 
in one of the passes where there were about sixty priests, or lamas, whose 
chief business was to offer prayers for the safety of travellers, provided 
they were sufficiently paid for their work. They had an easy way of 



SADDLE-OXEN OF THE HIMALAYAS. 



429 



saying prayers by means of a prayer-mill; it consisted of a cylinder like 
a small barrel, and was turned by a string fastened to a crooked handle. 
Every revolution of the cylinder was equivalent to a repetition of the 
prayer contained in it, and a skilful operator was able to turn out a great 
many prayers in a short time. Frank said they had seen the same thing 
in Japan at the entrance of one of the temples in Tokio, as well as in sev- 
eral other places, and the guide added that sometimes the prayers were 
attached to a small windmill, or to a water-wheel, so that the petition 
could be repeated many times while the priest in charge of it was sound 
asleep. 

He had hoped to show them some of the saddle-oxen of the Hima- 
layas, but in this he was disappointed, as they did not happen to meet 
any of them during their journeys. These oxen are the small sturdy 
animals of the mountains, and though they are no larger than a two-year- 
old steer in America, they can carry a load of two or three hundred 
pounds without difficulty. The Buddhist priests at the mountain tem- 





SADDLE-OXEN IN THE HIMALAYAS. 



pies keep several of these oxen, and in parts of the Himalayas they are 
preferred to other beasts of burden. 

The boys were greatly interested in the description of a Thibetan 
train from the salt-mines on the northern side of the Himalayas, in which 



430 



THE BOY TKAVELEElto IN THE EAR EAST. 



every animal that can carry a load is pressed into the service. First comes 
a string of yaks, or buffaloes, peculiar to the mountain regions, and each 
of them has a cargo of two hundred pounds of salt, in addition to the 
pots and pans used in the camps, and possibly a baby or two in a basket 
hanging at the animal's side. Then comes a long file of sheep and goats, 
and each of them carries a bag of salt on his back ; behind these quiet beasts 
of burden are two or three huge dogs of a peculiar breed, with long shag- 
gy hair, and with noses flattened in so that they are almost like no noses 
at all. Every dog carries a bag of salt, and so does every one of the chil- 
dren that bring up the rear of the caravan. The only animals of the 
train exempt from service are the cats ; their freedom from labor is se- 
cured, not from any tenderness on the part of their owners, but from the 
antipathy of the cat to working under the pack-saddle. 




A THIBETAN DOG. 



DEATHS BY SERPENTS AND WILD BEASTS. 431 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

HUNTING SCENES IN INDIA.— PURSUIT OF THE TIGER ON FOOT AND 

WITH ELEPHANTS. 

r T\EE curiosity of the boys to learn about the wild animals of India was 
-■- awakened by their meeting with Captain Whitney, the famous hunter, 
and they were greatly delighted when they found him entirely willing 
to speak of his exploits and describe incidents of a hunter's life. The 
stormy day at Simla was, therefore, utilized to the f idlest extent, and the 
stories of the gallant captain found a place in the note -books of both 
Frank and Fred. 

We will let Captain Whitney give the account of his hunting experi- 
ence, as nearly as we can, in his own words. The boys listened attentively 
to the stories, and afterward wrote them out from memory, and from the 
notes they had taken while sitting at the table in the parlor of the hotel 
where the conversation occurred. 

" There are not as many tigers in India now as there were twenty 
years ago," said the captain, " thanks to the perseverance of the hunters 
and the bounties offered by the Government ; but we have quite enough 
of them left, as you will understand when I tell you that in the Madras 
presidency alone, for the quarter ending September 30th of last year, the 
destruction by tigers and leopards amounted to 366 bullocks, 413 cows, 
151 calves, 87 buffaloes, 112 sheep, 114 goats, 20 horses or ponies, and 15 
donkeys. The number of human lives destnryed in the same time is not 
stated, but it is officially recorded that in six years 13,401 people were 
killed by wild beasts in the Bengal presidency ; 4218 of them by tigers, 
4287 by wolves, 1407 by leopards, and 105 by bears ; the rest by othei 
wild animals. In the year 1871 the total number of deaths in India by 
snakes and wild animals was 18,078, and about three-fourths of these were 
caused by snakes ; in 1869, 14,529 persons lost their lives by snake-bites, 
and you therefore see that serpents are more dangerous than tigers. 

"A tiger that has once tasted human flesh is ever afterward disin- 
clined to hunt for other game. He has learned how easy it is to kill a 



432 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

man, and how little risk he runs in doing so, and his instinctive dread of 
the human race seems to disappear altogether. Such a tiger is known as a 
' man-eater ;' he lies close to the paths where the natives pass and pounces 
upon them suddenly, and he has the shrewdness to change his locality a 
little after each slaughter. It is officially reported that in one district a 
man-eating tiger killed 127 persons in a short time, and caused a com- 
plete suspension of business on the road for many weeks. Another tiger 
killed 150 persons in three years, compelled the abandonment of many 
villages, and threw 250 square miles of country out of cultivation. The 
Government offered a thousand dollars for the head of this tiger, and he 
was finally killed by an officer of the army. 

" There are several ways of killing the tiger," the captain continued, 
" and every hunter of experience and daring tries them all. The safest 
plan for a novice is to still-hunt, or bait, as we call it, and for this purpose 
we find where a tiger has killed a bullock and partly eaten him. We 
know he will return to finish his meal, or rather to make another; if 
there is a tree near by, we rig up a shelter and resting-place among the 
limbs, and early in the evening climb up there and wait. We have a 
couple of sharp-eyed natives with us, and they keep a steady watch for 
the beast. Sometimes he comes at dusk, sometimes two or three hours 
later, and sometimes not at all, and yon have your night's watch in a tree 
for nothing; but if he comes you must be very careful about your aim, 
and try to bring him down at the first shot, since you are very unlikely 
to get a second. It is no easy matter to shoot a tiger in the dim light 
that you have under the circumstances, and many a skilful hunter has 
had the chagrin of seeing the brute escape. 

" The native princes have a way of hunting tigers from my charts, or 
stands, but it is not much practised by Europeans. The stands are placed 
along a valley where a tiger is likely to run when driven from his retreat 
in the jungle, and some of these runs are so well known that the my- 
chans are permanently built of stone, and fitted up with more or less lux- 
ury. I was once invited by a native prince to join him in a hunt of this 
sort, and of course I accepted. We were in a kind of fort on the bank 
of a stream, and while waiting for the tiger we were seated in comfort- 
able arm-chairs, and received the liberal hospitality of the prince. After 
an hour or two the beaters who had been sent out succeeded in driving 
up a fine tiger; we heard the sound of their drums and tom-toms coming 
nearer and nearer, and suddenly out rushed the tiger and made for the 
water. The prince fired, and I also fired ; but somehow the beast got 
away, though we felt sure he was wounded. 



HUNTING THE TIGER. 



433 



;,'■'■'' . . ■■ ■■ . ■ ■■ ■ '■.:'■■■■■ 

i, :. . .:!' ■ ■■• .. . ■■. . 

■ i . i ..■:,■ 

■■:/;■ . t ; ! . . 







: : 

...... 



434 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

" Some of the native princes will not allow the tigers on their proper- 
ty to be killed by Englishmen, but preserve them for their own hunting. 
They have even been known to let loose two or three tame tigers when 
they have a distinguished guest to entertain, and wish to make sure that 
he will have game to shoot at. Once, when a native prince was entertain- 
ing an English officer of high rank, he got up a grand tiger-hunt after the 
fashion I have just described, and the tigers came so near that two of 
them were killed by the guest. When the second was shot the whole 
party went from the mychan to where the dead animal was lying. The 
prince was embarrassed, and the guest astonished, to find that the tiger 
had a collar around his neck, with the name of the former engraved on it. 

"Another way of hunting the tiger is with elephants, and the more 
of them you have the better. It is a very expensive mode of hunting, as 
it requires a great number of men and elephants, and therefore is not 
very common. When the Prince of Wales was here there was a grand 
tiger -hunt, in which he took part; there were several of these expedi- 
tions, in fact, but the greatest of all was given by Sir Jung Bahadoor, a 
native prince of enormous wealth. Five hundred and odd elephants 
were brought out on that occasion, and the spectacle was one of the 
finest ever seen in the country." 

The captain paused a moment, and then resumed: 

" Hunting with elephants is attended with some risk, partly because 
the tiger may spring upon the elephant and attack the hunters- in the how- 
dah, but more especially because the elephant may take fright and run 
through the forest quite out of the control of his driver. The howdah 
is swept off, and its occupants are very fortunate if they escape with 
whole skins. 

" The way we do it is this. We surround a forest or piece of jungle 
where we know a tiger is concealed, provided we have elephants enough 
to do so, and then we move slowly in toward the centre, and make a ter- 
rific noise with drums and other unmusical instruments. The tiger tries 
one part of the line and then another, to escap>e, and in doing so he ex- 
poses himself to our shots. We generally succeed in bringing him down 
before he has done any damage, but are not always so fortunate. 

"On my first tiger- hunt of this sort I had an exciting experience. 
I was assigned to an elephant that was said to be very steady and not 
easily frightened ; I had a Remington rifle, carrying a large ball, and kept 
my cartridges handy, so that I could load and fire with great rapidity. 
While we were closing up the line I saw a large tiger trying to pass out 
of the forest, and immediately drew my rifle to the shoulder and fired. 



TIGER-HUNTING WITH ELEPHANTS. 



435 



"I wounded him in the side, but did not disable him. He turned, 
with a frightful roar, and made straight for me, and the elephant started 
to run as soon as the roar reached his ears. Before I could get in a sec- 
ond shot the tiger was on the elephant's rump and climbing directly to 
where I stood ; but I settled him with a bullet in his brain, and he fell 
to the ground. The driver succeeded in stopping the runaway elephant, 
and as we came around to where my prize was lying I put in another 
ball, to make sure of his death, and the gentleman on the next elephant 
did the same. 

" Perhaps you may smile at our putting a couple of balls into a tiger 




AN AWKWARD PREDICAMENT. 



that appeared to be dead, but you wouldn't if you knew the brute and 
his treacherous • ways. Many a tiger has lain as if dead till somebody 
walked up to him ; then he sprung to his feet., and in several instances he 
has torn the hunter to pieces. A friend of mine was terribly wounded 
in this way by a tiger that had already received four balls ; he was lying 
on his side on the ground exactly as though he had breathed his last, and 
my friend walked quite around him and threw a piece of turf against 
his side without causing the least motion. Then he considered it safe 
to apply his tape-line to take the measurement of his game, and as he did 



43G 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 




PROCESSION OF TIGER-HUNTERS ON FOOT. 



so the tiger reared and seized him. Another gentleman was close by, and 
he settled the tiger with a bullet in his side, but not till my friend's arm 
was nearly torn from its socket. 

" The favorite mode with all true sportsmen is to hunt on foot, and, 
for those whose means will not allow the expense of hunting with ele- 
phants, it is to be preferred, on account of its cheapness. Two or more 
gentlemen organize the party, or a man may have no partner, if he 
chooses, and keep all the game to himself. Any number of natives, from 
twenty upward, are required, and the more you have the better. There 
is a shikar r y, ov chief huntsman, who leads the party; he watches the 
tracks of the tiger, or the drops of blood, if the animal is wounded, and 
is constantly stooping on the ground to discover the desired traces. 



TIGER-HUNTING ON FOOT. 437 

"Behind the shikarry come the hunters, usually two of them, and 
they keep their rifles ready cocked, so as to shoot on the instant. Then 
follow two of the steadiest natives with the spare guns to hand to their 
employers the moment they are wanted, and behind the gun-bearers is 
the band armed with half a dozen drums, a dinner-bell, horns, tom-toms, 
pistols, and other things for getting up a noise, and the greater the noise 
is, the better. Then there are men who throw stones in front of the 
party, and stir up a tiger who may be lying concealed in the bushes, and 
there are spearmen on the right and left of the line, to keep the beaters 
together when passing through tall grass. There are two or three men 
whose duty is to climb trees and watch for any movements of the game. 
The procession moves very slowly, as it is necessary to be cautious, to 
prevent the escape of the tiger, and also to save the members of the 
party from injury if possible. 

" The greatest danger of hunting on foot is in following up a tiger 
that has been wounded. It is never safe to venture alone into the jungle 
where such an animal has fled, even if there is good reason to believe he 
is dead; he may spring out at any moment, and his wound makes him 
desperately courageous. Once a party of us was advancing in this way, 
and came to a little clearing, where all traces of the tiger suddenly 
ceased; we had followed him by his blood, and the trail was so evident 
that we all thought he must have bled to death. While we were stand- 
ing in the clearing, and wondering which way to go, there came a roar 
as though from beneath our feet, and the next instant the tiger rose 
from a little ditch not three yards from where I was standing. He 
sprung on my friend Major Rice, and threw him to the ground, and we 
all thought the major was killed. I fired as best I could, but did not suc- 
ceed in killing the tiger, as I was fearful of hitting the major; then the 
shikarry handed me my loaded gun, and I fired again, with no better 
success. At the second shot the tiger seized Rice by the shoulder, and 
began dragging him away ; I followed closely, and finally brought the 
brute down with a bullet through his skull. I gave him another, to 
make certain, and then we ran forward and pulled the major from under 
the tiger's body. He was not severely hurt beyond his arm, which was 
badly bitten, but the wounds healed in a few weeks, and he was as well 
as ever. The tiger measured eleven feet and one inch from the tip of 
his nose to the tip of his tail, and I sent the skin to a friend in England. 

"I once had a narrow escape from a tiger that I had been pursuing 
and wounded with a couple of balls. It was among some low hills about 
fifty miles from here, and there was very little forest in that part of the 



438 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



country. We were following him, and bad come to a halt for a few 
moments in consequence of losing the trail ; I was separated from the 
rest of the party, with only my gun-bearer near, when suddenly the tiger 
came bounding out of the forest and making directly for me. There 
was no chance of running, and my only dependence was on my rifle. I 
raised it and fired, and luckily enough hit him in the mouth and sent the 







WW* 



A GRAPPLE WITH A TIGER. 



ball crashing through his skull. He fell dead, and was not two yards 
from my feet as he struck the ground. It was one of the narrowest es- 
capes I ever had." 

Frank asked what was the length and weight of the largest tigers 
killed in India. 



AVERAGE SIZE OF TIGERS. 



439 



" As to that," answered the captain, " there is considerable dispute. 
I have shot twenty-one tigers, and kept a careful record of the measure- 
ments, which I always took myself ; and if an Englishman was present 
I had him go over the figures and apply the tape-line, to make sure I 
was correct. The average length of my tigers is nine feet seven and a 
half inches. The longest one I ever shot measured eleven feet and seven 
inches, and the longest I ever Tm&w anybody to kill measured twelve feet 
six inches. I have heard on good authority of several tigers over twelve 
feet, and two of exactly twelve feet ; but I have grave doubts of thir- 







A NARROW ESCAPE. 



teen -foot tigers, and still graver ones of fourteen - footers. As to the 
weight I cannot speak, as I never saw a tiger weighed, but they are very 
heavy in proportion to their size. They are all muscles and sinews, and 



440 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

in an old tiger the work of cutting through the tendons and muscles of 
the leg is like dissecting a section of wire cable. He hasn't an ounce of 
fat, and his body when stripped of the skin forms the finest anatomical 
specimen you can imagine. The sinews will turn the edge of the hard- 
est knife. Dissect a powerful bull side by side with a tiger, and the bull 
will appear as flabby and boneless as a jelly-fish by comparison with the 
other beast. 

"I once saw a fight between a tiger and crocodile. It was on the 
bank of the Koosee River, where I had been out stalking antelope, and 
had sat down for a few minutes to rest. The river abounds in croco- 
diles, and, on looking at a little sand-bank close to the opposite shore, I 
saw several of their snouts just above the surface of the water. While 
I was thinking about taking a shot at one of them for the sake of prac- 
tice, I heard a crackling in the bushes, and a huge tiger appeared at the 
edge of the river not ten yards from the crocodiles. Then I felt sure 
there would be some excitement. 

"The tiger was thirsty and hot, and as he lapped the water he settled 
nearly half his body into it. Instantly one of the dark snouts moved 
toward him, but so gently that there was not the least ripple on the sur- 
face of the river. 

"Within three feet of the tiger the snout disappeared. In an instant 
it rose again like lightning, the great jaws were opened, and in the same 
instant the tiger's head was enclosed between them. 

" Then there was a terrible struggle. The tiger was powerful, and so 
was the crocodile. It was the tiger's fight for life, while for the croco- 
dile the combat was not a light one. 

" The tiger's head is so strong that even the jaws of a crocodile, 
powerful as they are, cannot readily break it. In this case the tiger's 
head was not crushed, or he would have been instantly killed, and the 
fight brought to an end at once. 

"They lashed the shallow water near the sand-bar into a mass of 
foam. Twice the tiger got his feet planted on the bottom, and fairly 
drew his antagonist out of the water. They rolled over and over, the 
crocodile maintaining his hold, which the tiger vainly attempted to break. 
At last they rolled into deep water, and as the tiger could get no footing 
he was carried below. The crocodile had the best of it, and disappeared 
in the depths of the river with his prey." 

The captain closed his stories of tiger-hunting with the above anec- 
dote, and then turned to other topics. He told about " pig-sticking," or 
chasing the wild boar of India, and said that many persons preferred it to 



HUNTING THE WILD BOAS. 



Ul 



tiger-hunting, for the reason that it affords a fine opportunity for a ride 
across the country, and has its full share of danger. 

" Many a horse and many a man," said he, " have come to grief on 
the tusks of an old boar, and there is not a hunter in the country who 
cannot tell of narrow escapes. Great skill is required in handling the 
spear; the horse must be well trained, and the rider have perfect confi- 
dence in his steed. 

"Eight or ten is the usual number for a boar-hunt, and each man is 
mounted on his favorite horse. The pigs are driven out of the jungle by 
the native beaters on foot, and when they emerge into the open country 




mn^orc<u, 



A WILD BOAR ATTACKING A PANTHER. 



the hunters pursue them. No fire-arms are used, the only weapons being 
sharp -pointed spears about eight feet long. Servants follow the party 
with bundles of spears to replace those broken or lost, and in an excit- 
ing day's sport each hunter will require a change of spears at least half a 
dozen times. A boar will run very fast when he has an open stretch of 
country before him and a pack of hunters is at his lieels. The hunter 
must come up so as to pierce the fleeing animal with his spear, and it 
often requires a good many attacks to lay him low, 

" The boar is very apt to turn when he feels the prod of a spear and 
charge upou his pursuers, and he can inflict terrible wounds with his 



442 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

tusks. It is in avoiding these charges that the horse and rider display 
their confidence in each other, and exercise their combined skill. The 
well-trained horse directs his course so as to bring the pig on his rider's 
right hand, and immediately after the blow is made he swerves away to 
the left. An experienced horse needs no guidance, but a verdant one 
must be directed by the rein, and it takes a very skilful hunter to attend 
to a horse and stick a pig at the same time." 

The captain's talk drifted to elephants, but, as the boys had been at 
the elephant-catching establishment in Siam and learned how these huge 
beasts are shot and entrapped, they did not make any notes of the narra- 
tive.* They had stories of leopards and bears, of hyenas and wolves, and 
of several other wild animals in India, till it was late in the evening and 
bedtime had arrived. They heartily thanked Captain Whitney for the 
information he had given them, and wished him every possible success in 
the expedition he was about to make, and then they said " Good-night " 
and retired. 



* "The Boy Travellers in Siam and Java," Chapters XL, XII., and XVIII. New York; 
Harper & Brothers, 1881. 



THE GREAT FESTIVAL AT ALLAHABAD. 443 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

FROM SIMLA TO ALLAHABAD AND BOMBAY.— A GREAT HINDOO FESTI- 
VAL.— CASTES.— THUGS AND THE CAVES OF ELLORA. 

FKOM Simla the party returned to Umballa, which they reached just 
in time to take the train for Allahabad. They expected to arrive 
there early in the morning, and it was just about daybreak as the train 
rolled over the magnificent bridge that crosses the Jumna just outside 
the city. The bridge is two-thirds of a mile in length, and built entirely 
of stone and iron, and the engineers had great difficulty in placing the 
piers, owing to the treacherous nature of the river's sandy bed. The 
Bramins predicted that the bridge could never be made, and its success- 
ful construction has gone far to shake the faith of the people in the infal- 
libility of their idols, and teach them to regard the God of the foreigner. 

It was the time of the mela, or annual festival, that brings two or 
three millions of people to Allahabad to bathe in the sacred waters where 
the Ganges and Jumna unite. Early in the forenoon our friends went to 
the flat plain at the junction of the rivers — a triangular stretch of sand 
measuring a mile or more on each side, and so low that it is covered dur- 
ing the season of floods. Their carriage was not allowed to proceed far- 
ther than the edge of this plain, through fear of accidents, but they hired 
an elephant that was equipped with a couple of chairs of the "settee" 
pattern placed back to back, and affording accommodation for half a 
dozen persons. Thus mounted, they rode over the ground of the assem- 
blage, and had a capital view of the scene. 

Doctor Bronson thought there were at least 100,000 people on the 
ground, and it is said that the crowd sometimes numbers half a million. 
They come from all parts of India, and there are few acts considered more 
pious than the pilgrimage to Allahabad. As if the sanctity of the two 
rivers was not sufficient, the priests teach that there is a third river, invisi- 
ble to mortal eyes, which flows directly from heaven to unite with the 
Ganges and Jumna, and it is at the point of the triple union that the 
bathing ceremony is performed. 



444 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 




HINDOO FAKIRS CUTTING THEMSELVES WITH KNIVES. 



THE GREAT FESTIVAL AT ALLAHABAD. 445 

The boys had never seen so large a crowd as this, nor even one so 
curious. There were pilgrims of all degrees, poor men and women who 
had begged their subsistence along the road, and rich men who came in 
grand state with trains of elephants and camels, and with gorgeous tents 
spread for their occupation. There were many fakirs, some holding their 
withered hands high in the air, where they had kept them for years. 
Others with the skin worn from their knees in consequence of dragging 
their bodies along the roads, and others covered with dust and ashes, in 
accordance with their vows. It is a peculiar principle of the Hindoo re- 
ligion that its holiest men are the dirtiest ; and if one wishes to get up a 
reputation for sanctity, his first duty is to become as repulsive as possible 
by never washing himself, covering his body witli rags, allowing his hair 
to go quite untouched by comb or scissors, to perform some act of bodily 
torture, and then sit by the roadside and beg for food. The fakirs are 
even exempt from the injunction to bathe in the holy rivers, possibly 
through fear that the accumulated dirt, which is the seal of their profes- 
sion, might be washed *way. But they come in great numbers to all the 
sacred places, and probably the chance of picking up a liberal allowance 
from the charitable may have something to do with their coming. 

Formerly there were great cruelties practised by these fakirs on 
themselves in the name of religion, but they are no longer allowed. 
They used to fasten hooks in the flesh of their backs and then be swung 
in the air; they slashed their flesh with knives, or pierced it with nails 
and spears ; placed fire on their heads till their scalps were burnt 
through, and did many other cruel things. The boys saw several of 
these fakirs whose hands had been so long held upright that they were 
fixed in that position, and others whose finger-nails had been allowed to 
grow until the} 7 were turned like the claws of birds and pierced the 
palms of the hands. One man had his feet and hands bound together, 
and was rolling along like a cart-wheel, and the Doctor said he had doubt- 
less come hundreds of miles in this way. 

At the junction of the rivers the crowd was more -dense than else- 
where, and hundreds of persons were clinging to rafts anchored for the 
safety of those who could not swim. Before a pilgrim enters the water 
he sits on the bank and submits himself to a barber, who removes his 
hair and beard and throws them into the river. He is told that for 
every hair he thus gives to the gods he will have a million years in par- 
adise. After the shaving is over he bathes ; the next day he goes 
through a ceremony in honor of his ancestors, and is then ready to de- 
part for home. From where the boys sat on the back of their elephant, 



446 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 












h 






1* 




A PILGRIM CARRYING RELIGIOUS RELICS. 



A MOSLEM SCHOOL. 447 

near the junction of the rivers they saw dozens of barbers at work ; men 
with long hair and beards would sit down in front of one of these opera- 
tors, and rise a few minutes later shorn of what had formed their prin- 
cipal attraction. 

The priests who have charge of this festival make a great deal of 
money, as the pilgrims are required to pay according to their means for 
the services of the barbers and the privilege of bathing. Several times 
it has been proposed to make an end of this idolatrous worship by closing 
the place altogether, and giving a cash allowance to the owners to replace 
their revenues. But the Government is unwilling to interfere in the 
religion of the people, and so the festival is kept up. It occurs in the 
months of January and February, and is one of the curious sights for a 
traveller in India. 

Allahabad means " the city of God." The name was given to it by 
the great Moslem emperor, Akbar, who conquered it from the Hindoos, 
and built a fort, which is now occupied by the English garrison. During 
the Mutiny the European residents took refuge in the fort, where many 
of them died of cholera before the army came to raise the siege and re- 
lieve them from their imprisonment. 

The population of Allahabad is a mixed one of Moslems and Hindoos,, 
the former descended from the conquerors of 300 years ago, and the lat- 
ter from the more ancient inhabitants. As the boys drove through the 
Moslem portion of the city, they passed a school where some bright-eyed 
boys were learning their lessons under the supervision of a teacher of 
their race and religion. All were squatted on the floor, and the books 
they were reading were, according to the Doctor, portions of the Koran. 
The lessons are studied aloud, each pupil for himself, and consequently a 
Moslem school is the reverse of quiet. The Koran is the principal text- 
book, and often the only one ; after the pupil has mastered it he is in- 
structed in arithmetic, and sometimes he learns a little geography, but 
not much. There are higher schools and colleges where scientific instruc- 
tion is given, but they are not easily entered except by the boys of well- 
to-do parents. 

While our friends were resting in the hotel after their round of sight- 
seeing, the conversation turned upon caste — that peculiar social and relig- 
ious institution to which reference has already been made. In response 
to the inquiries of the boys, Doctor Bronson said the system of caste was 
not fully understood even by those who had lived for years in India, but 
it might be described in a general way as a distinction based on birth, 
and incapable of change. 



448 



THE BOY TKAVELLEKS IN THE EAK EAST. 




MOSLEM SCHOOL AT ALLAHABAD. 



" There are," said the Doctor, " four great castes, and these have nu- 
merous subdivisions, which include eighteen principal and more than a 
hundred subordinate classes. By the rule of caste no man can ascend to 
a higher or go down to a lower ; he may commit murder and other 
crimes without losing caste, but if he violates any of the rules of cere- 
mony, however slight, he becomes an outcast, and can only be restored 
on payment of a fine proportioned to his means. For some offences 
there is no restoration ; the outcast, whether temporary or perpetual, is 
not recognized by his friends or even by his family, and any one who 
ventured to speak to him or give him the least assistance would be liable 
to the same fate. 

" The four classes are, first, the Bramins, who are supposed to have 



CASTE AND ITS PECULIARITIES. 449 

come from the head of the Creator, and to be endowed with attributes of 
divinity which all below must recognize. Kings and emperors are not 
exempt from paying reverence to the Bramins, and the poorest of the 
latter considers himself superior to the Sovereign of England or the 
Emperor of China. The Bramin is of so exalted a character that he 
will eat no food that a man of lower caste has touched, and even to allow 
the shadow of the latter to fall on him would be pollution. In Southern 
India it was formerly considered quite justifiable for a Bramin to strike 
dead a low-caste man who had touched him, whether accidentally or oth- 
erwise, and in the native states of India at the present time the people of 
low caste are under heavy disabilities. 

" The second caste have a sort of sacred character, but far below that 
of the Bramins ; they are the military and executive class, and carry out 
the laws which the Bramins make. The third caste comprises the mer- 
cantile and agricultural classes; and the fourth, or sudra, includes all 
the servile classes, who must remain forever in a state of depend- 
ence, and are not allowed to acquire property, or even to be instructed 
in anything more than the work they have to do. It is forbidden for a 
Bramin to read the sacred writings to the sudras, or give them any re- 
ligious instruction wmatever. Below the sudras are the pariahs, or out- 
casts ; no men of any caste will associate with them, and they are regard- 
ed as utterly without any redeeming qualities. A pariah who should 
come into the presence of a Bramin, under the old rules of caste, w T onld 
be liable to be put to death. 

" Though the distinctions all exist in India, it is well known that they 
are rapidly breaking up. The second and third castes are being mingled 
so that it is hard to tell one from the other; the introduction of the rail- 
way, which throws men of all castes together, and often compels them to 
touch each other while sitting in the same carriage, is doing much to de- 
stroy the system, and the Government has enacted laws that aid in the 
movement. By the rules of the system, loss of caste is followed by 
forfeiture of all property and civil rights ; but the Government steps 
in and prohibits any such forfeiture, and in several instances has pun- 
ished the priests ordering it, by convicting them of conspiracy, and send- 
ing them to prison. From present indications it may be hoped that the 
caste system will some day be abolished, though such a result can hardly 
be looked for in our lifetime." 

In the afternoon they took another drive through Allahabad, and as 
they passed the prison one of the boys indicated a desire to see it. The 
carriage was stopped, and the Doctor was taken to see the superintend- 

29 



450 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 






ent, who permitted the strangers to enter. In one cell there were three 
ill-looking fellows, who were said to be robbers, and in an adjoining cell 
there were four equally repulsive characters, described as Thugs. The 
Doctor expressed his surprise, as he had supposed the system of Thug- 
gee or Thuggery was extinct ; but the chief of the prison said that once 

in a while bands of 
Thugs were found ply- 
ing their trade, and they 
generally proved to be 
some who escaped arrest 
in the general move- 
ment for their suppres- 
sion, or were simply 
robbers who had adopt- 
ed the principles of the 
Thugs. In other cells 
and in corners of the 
yard were some ordina- 
ry thieves and other vio- 
lators of the law ; there 
was nothing attractive 
about the place, and 
after a short visit the 
party withdrew. 

As they rode away 
from the prison, one of 
the boys asked Doctor 
Bronson to tell them 
about the Thugs, and 
their peculiarities. 

" It may astonish 
you," replied the Doc- 
tor, " to learn that they 
were a body of assas- 
sins religiously devoted 
hindoo robbers in prison, to their horrible work. 

They went about mur- 
dering people, and supposed they had the approval of their goddess in 
doing so." 

The Doctor had surmised rightly, as the boys opened their eves 




THE THUGS IN INDIA. 



451 



widely in the astonishment which this information caused. When the 
eyes had resumed their former appearance, he resumed : 

" The discovery of the existence of this organization was made by 
accident, or rather through the guilty conscience of a member of it. 




THUGS AWAITING TRIAL AT ALLAHABAD. 



" One day, in the year 1829, a native came to Colonel Sleeman, an 
officer of the English Government, and confessed that he was the leader 
of a gang of Thugs in the neighborhood, and showed where many of the 



452 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

victims had been buried. An investigation proved the correctness of his 
statement, and the members of the gang were arrested ; one discovery 
followed another, till it was known that the organization extended 
through all the provinces of India, and that the different gangs had their 
jemadars or leaders, garus or teachers, sothas or entrappers, hhuttotes or 
stranglers, and lughaees or grave-diggers. They worshipped the goddess 
Kali, and always consulted her before starting on an expedition, and if 
the omens were wrong they abandoned their plans. 

" They went in the disguise of merchants or pilgrims ; robbery was 
the object of the murders they committed, and the proceeds were divided 
as follows: one third to the goddess, one third to the widows and or- 
phans of the sect, and the remaining third to the assassins themselves. 
The teachers or spies learned the route of an intended victim, and in- 
formed the entrappers, who lured him away from the road or to a se- 
cluded place, where at a moment when he suspected no danger the stran- 
glers killed him by suddenly throwing a handkerchief around his neck 
and twisting it tightly. Then the grave-diggers performed their share 
of the business, and after it was over the party went to the temple, 
divided the spoil in the manner I have mentioned, and partook of a 
sacrament by way of purification. 

" They did not kill Europeans, for fear of detection, and they also ex- 
empted women and old men from their operations. After the existence 
of the order was discovered arrests were made all over India, and some 
thousands of the murderers were taken. Many were executed for their 
crimes; the least guilty of them were colonized near Jubbulpoor, with 
the women and children of the organization, where they were kept sep- 
arate from others, and still remain under Government supervision and 
employment." 

There was not a great deal to be seen at Allahabad besides the fes- 
tival at the junction of the rivers, as the fort contains nothing remark- 
able, and there are no public buildings of consequence. The train for 
Bombay left in the evening, and Doctor Bronson and the boys went by 
it for a direct ride of 845 miles, which they accomplished in forty hours. 

The Doctor had originally intended to stop on the way to visit the 
Caves of Ellora ; but circumstances made it inconvenient to do so, and 
the plan was abandoned. He told the boys that the caves ranked next 
to the Pyramids of Egypt as works of human labor, and were far su- 
perior to them in artistic character. 

" You have seen," said he, " toys made in Switzerland and other coun- 
tries where the side of a block of wood is cut into, and the wood slowly 



A GREAT TEMPLE HEWN FROM THE ROCK. 



453 




VESTIBULE OF THE GREAT TEMPLE AT ELLORA. 



454 THE BOY TEAVELLEES IN THE FAR EAST. 

chipped away so as to leave figures of men, trees, or other things stand- 
ing inside of a hollow space?" 

Both tlie boys remembered that they had seen toys of this description. 

"Now," he continued, "imagine that the block of wood is a rock 600 
feet high, and two miles long, rising, with very steep sides, from a level 
plain." 

" Yes." 

"And then imagine that the solid rock is cut away so as to leave tem- 
ples, pyramids, obelisks, and statues of various kinds, just as the wood is 
chipped away in the Swiss toys. If yon can picture these in your mind 
you will have a vivid conception of the wonderful Caves of Ellora. 
They extend for more than a mile along the base of a hill such as I have 
described, and the labor of making them is almost incalculable. Here 
is the account of one of the excavations, written by a gentleman who 
visited the place : 

" ' The cave called Khailas, or Paradise, is the largest and most elabo- 
rate of the series. It is a quarry-like excavation, 250 feet deep; its length 
is 401 feet, and its breadth 133 feet. There is a wall of solid rock sepa- 
rating the enclosure from the plain. The interior of the quarry is occu- 
pied in the centre by the temple. This is of the usual form, consisting 
of the shrine, with its pyramidal dome, and several pillared porticoes and 
halls. The sides of the quarry are steep, and hollowed out into succes- 
sive stories of halls and galleries, into which light is admitted by open 
colonnades. All these buildings — the great temple, its porticoes and gal- 
leries, as well as the other apartments, and the massive wall which di- 
vides the whole from the valley — are carved and quarried out of the 
solid rock. 

" ' The temple is about 85 feet high to the top of the pyramidal spire 
over the shrine. Its length, including the porticoes, which are connected 
with it by hanging galleries of stone, is not less than 150 feet, and the 
greatest breadth about 90 feet. The largest apartment is 6Q feet by 55,. 
Its ceiling, which is supported by heavy square columns, is not more than 
12 feet high, and carved to represent rafters. The columns and walls of 
the apartment were most elaborately carved, as was also the whole exte- 
rior of the building; the designs represent the exploits of Earn in Lunka. 
or Ceylon, and the chambers and galleries in the sides of the quarry were 
similarly decorated. In the enclosure between the temple and gate-way 
are two obelisks, 75 or 80 feet high, supported on the backs of elephants. 
Like all the other buildings and accessories, they are carved from the 
solid rock.' " 



INTERIOR OF KHA1LAS AT ELLORA. 



455 




456 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



One of the bojs asked what was the probable age of the Caves of 
Ellora, and by whom they were made. 

" They are thought to belong to different centuries," replied the Doc- 
tor, "as some of them are of Braminical character, while others were 
made by the Buddhists. It is believed that the most modern were made 
about 900 years ago, and possibly the oldest were excavated 1000 years- 
earlier. Every Hindoo divinity has a shrine there, and it is strange that 
there is nothing certain about their history. The natives say they were 
the work of the gods, and are at least 9000 years old ; another tradition 
says they were all made by one man, and that he would have excavated 
more caves if he had not cut his hand so severely one day that he was 
disabled from further work." 




MURAL SCULPTURES AT ELLORA. 



ON THE ROAD TO BOMBAY. 



457 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

A SHORT HISTORY OF INDIA.— THE SEPOY MUTINY.— PRESENT CONDITION 

OF THE ARMY IN INDIA. 

A T six o'clock in the morning after the departure from Allahabad 
-*-*- the train brought the three travellers to Jubbulpoor, 229 miles from 
the junction of the Ganges and Jumna rivers. Here the East Indian Rail- 
way terminates, and the rest of the journey was made over the Great 
Indian Peninsula Railway. The appearance of the country told very 
plainly that they were no longer in the valley of the Ganges ; the broad 
plain disappeared, and in its place there were wooded hills and mountains 
which afforded many picturesque views. A few miles from Jubbulpoor 




KAIMVAY VIADUCT IN THE MOUNTAINS. 



the train entered the valley of the Xerbudda River, which was followed 

for a long distance; then it ascended a steep incline to cross a chain of 

mountains, and afterward descended to the valley of the Godavery. The 

Ghaut Mountains of Central India were seen in all their magnificence, 

and the boys frequently compared the views from the car windows to 

those that greet the traveller over the Alleghanies, on the great routes 

westward from the seaboard cities of the United States. 
29* 



458 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

The mountain passes on this route are the Thull Ghaut and the Bhore 
Ghaut, which are respectively 1912 and 2027 feet above the level of the 
sea. The steepest inclines are one in thirty-seven, or about 113 feet to 
the mile, and there are many tunnels, viaducts, and bridges, as might be 
expected in a railway through the mountains. Doctor Bronson said the 
engineering work was excellent, and very creditable to the builders of 
the road, though it was not equal to what had been accomplished in 
America — perhaps for the reason that there were not so many difficul- 
ties to encounter and surmount. 

The boys had devoted their spare moments to the preparation of their 
accounts of India, previously promised, and during some of the long rides 
in the railway train they read aloud the results of their work. Frank 
had taken the general history of India for his share of the work, while 
Fred had prepared a short account of the sepoy rebellion ; consequently 
Frank's composition was the first ,to be read. We are permitted to exam- 
ine that valuable document. 

A SHORT HISTORY OF INDIA. 

By FRANK BASSETT, 

" There is a good deal of uncertainty about the earl}' history of India, 
as the Hindoo accounts are not to be believed in any way. They make 
the Hindoos the first people that ever lived here, and give their race an 
antiquity of millions of years ; they talk about kings and dynasties that 
never existed, and mix their performances with those of their gods. Here 
is a fair sample of their stories : 

"'A goddess in Ceylon had a headache, and it was said the only thing 
that could cure her was a plant on one of the Himalayas, a thousand 
miles to the north. One of the gods went to bring it, and was gone only 
a few hours. When he got to the mountain he was not sure which plant 
was wanted, and so he took the mountain on his shoulders and carried it, 
to Ceylon, and he did it so quietly that none of the inhabitants or wild 
animals that lived on the mountain were disturbed in the least. Going- 
over a plain of Central India he dropped a few stones from the moun- 
tain, and formed a range of hills that stand there to-day. If anybody 
doubts the truth of the story he can see the hills, and then he must be 
convinced.' 

" The Hindoos are thought to have come here, about 3200 years ago, 
from the north ; they enslaved the wild tribes that lived in the country, 
and traces of these aborigines are still to be found in Central and South- 



HISTORY OF INDIA. 



459 



ern India. The Persians under Darius conquered a part of the country ; 
and then Alexander the Great destroyed the Persian Empire, and of 
course took what belonged to it in India. The country was then divided 




•%v 



HINDOO GIRL OF HIGH CASTE. 



into numerous small kingdoms, which were quite independent of each 
other ; many of them were captured by the Mohammedan conquerors 
who began to come here eight or nine hundred years ago, and kept com- 
ing till within 200 years. The story of their wars, and of their empires 



460 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

and kingdoms, would fill a large volume, but we will skip them all, as 
even the shortest account would be tedious. 

" In 1599 a company was formed in London, called ' The Governor 
and Company of Merchants of London Trading with the East Indies,' 
which was afterward shortened to ' The East India Company.' Queen 
Elizabeth gave them a charter, and a monopoly of all trade east of the 
Cape of Good Hope, for fifteen years, and they had a capital of £30,000. 

"The company did so well in the first' fifteen years that it had its 
charter renewed, with more capital, and every fifteen or twenty years 
afterward, down to the year 1854, it was renewed in one form or another. 
The capital was increased with most of the renewals until it reached 
£6,000,000,or $30,000,000, in 1793; it remained at that figure, but the 
profits were so great that the shares were often held at five or six times 
their par value. From a very early period in its history the company 
had the power to govern the country, to make war upon all barbarous 
people, to administer laws not conflicting with those of England, and to 
make such laws of its own as were thought necessary. 

"From 1833 the company ceased to be a trading association, but was 
continued in the Government of India, the country being thrown open 
to any British subject who chose to engage in business. All the property 
of the company was declared the property of the English Government, 
and held in trust for it by the company, which was to receive ten per 
cent, dividend on its stock, and the Government was privileged to buy 
the stock at any time at twice its par value. The last renewal of the 
charter was in 1854, but not for any definite period ; in August, 1858, the 
company was virtually abolished by act of Parliament, and all its powers 
were transferred to the Queen, its army and navy were declared a part 
of the national forces, and all persons holding commissions under the 
company were transferred to the service of the Crown. Thus ended an 
association that had existed more than 250 years, and conquered a coun- 
try containing nearly a fifth of the inhabitants of the globe. 

" Since 1858 the power of the British Government has been extended 
and strengthened, while that of the old 'John Company,' as it was called 
by the Chinese, has disappeared. The Governor-general of India is ap- 
pointed by the Queen, and he lives at Calcutta in the winter season, and 
at Simla in the summer. There is a Governor for each of the presi- 
dencies of Madras, Bombay, and Bengal, and under him are all the local 
and district commissioners, collectors, and other officials. Then there are 
lieutenant-governors, or commissioners, for the Punjaub, North-west 
Provinces, Oude, Central Provinces, and Scinde ; while the provinces of 



ENGLISH AUTH0E1TY IN THE NATIVE STATES. 461 

Hyderabad, Mysore, and one or two others are controlled directly by the 
Governor-general. The villages manage their own affairs, subject to the 
approval of the officer in charge of the district where they are located, 
and the native magistrates are held, responsible for the good conduct of 
their subjects. In some parts of the country the land is leased to zemin- 
dars, or large landholders, and sublet by them to the villages; in others 
the villages lease from the Government; and in others the individual 
cultivators take leases and pay their taxes without the intervention of 
anybody. 

" The power of the Government is not the same all over India. In 
some parts of the country the title of the native princes has been quite 
extinguished, while in others they live almost as they did before the Eng- 
lish went to India; they collect their taxes, maintain their armies, make 
their own laws, have their thrones, courts, and ceremonies, and do pretty 
much as they like. An English official, called a 'resident,' or political 
agent, lives near the prince, and when he thinks the latter is going too 
fast he gives a gentle hint to that effect. The prince is restricted as to 
the number of troops he shall keep under arms, and he pays a tax to the 
Government in return for being let alone. The resident has a force of 
English troops to support him in case of trouble, and the prince cannot 
make war upon any other prince without the resident's permission, 
which he is not likely to obtain. Before the Mutiny there were many 
native states of this kind ; those whose rulers remained loyal to the Eng- 
lish have been continued, but those who joined the rebels were absorbed 
into the British possessions, and the princes were dethroned. Altogether, 
there are now about seventy natives states, but some of them are very 
small. 

" The largest of the native states is Gwalior, and its prince, Scindia, 
holds a very high rank. When he goes to Calcutta he receives marked 
attention from the Governor-general, and his privileges are greater than 
those of any other prince. In d ore and Baroda have a form of Govern- 
ment similar to that of Gwalior, the resident having a force of troops 
to protect the British interests and maintain the authority of the prince. 
Rajpootana consists of eighteen native states, under as many rajahs, or 
princes ; each of them has an English official near him, and the whole 
are under the orders of the British political agent, who resides at 
Ajmere. There is rarely any trouble between the native rulers and 
the political agents, as the former know very well that a revolt would 
be certain to cost them their power, and possibly their heads. 

" These princes are fond of ceremony, and whenever a foreigner of 



462 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 




BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE MUTINY. 4G3 

distinction pays them a visit he has a special 'durbar,' or reception, in 
his honor. Frequently he is met at the frontier by a deputation of 
officials to escort him to the capital, and soon after his arrival the cere- 
mony of attar and pan is performed. The guests are received by the 
prince, and as soon as the formalities of presentation are completed each 
guest receives a handkerchief of the finest muslin covered with delicate 
embroidery. This is placed on the palm of the recipient's open hand, 
and then the prince rises and pours attar of roses on the handkerchief, 
and at the same time throws a garland of jasmine flowers alternated with 
small pearls around the neck of the visitor. The ceremony is an ancient 
one, and was introduced by the Mogul conquerors of India centuries ago. 
" The English understand this native love for display, and encourage 
it on many occasions. For example, when the Queen of England was 
proclaimed Empress of India there was a grand durbar at Delhi, which 
lasted twenty -one days, and cost an enormous amount of money. A 
great many native princes were invited to the festival, and so were all 
the foreign consuls in Calcutta and other cities of India ; nearly half of 
the troops in India were gathered there, and not a day passed without a 
ceremonial of some kind or other." 

Here ended Frank's history of India; the youth explained that he 
might have made it much longer, and had been puzzled to know when 
to stop. He only wanted to give a short account of the country which 
would not be tedious ; and if any boy or girl wished to know more — and 
he hoped he had roused their curiosity to do so — there were plenty of 
books to be had on the subject. 

Fred's account of the Sepoy Mutiny was now in order. He prefaced 
his story with an intimation that it would be very brief, as they had al- 
ready listened to stories of the Mutiny during their visits to Lucknow, 
Cawnpore, and other places, and his time had been so much occupied 
that he had only sketched out the causes of the revolt, and the changes 
in the army since it occurred. Here is the story he prepared : 

" The word sepoy is of Persian origin, and means a soldier ; and its 
practical application to-day is to the native soldiers of India, who were 
first employed by the French about the middle of the eighteenth century. 
In 1748 the East India Company organized a battalion of sepoys at 
Madras, and ten years later this small body had grown to a strength of 
14,000. Bengal and Bombay followed the example of Madras, and the 
native army grew steadily till it numbered 240,000 men of all arms in 
1857. Each regiment was nominally 1000 strong, and had twenty-four 



464 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 




BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE MUTINY. 465 

English officers, besides a full complement of native officers for each com- 
pany ; the natives were not allowed to rise above the rank of captain, 
through fear that they might turn their knowledge against their mas- 
ters. The failure of the Mutiny is partly due to this precaution, as the 
rebels could find no man with sufficient military knowledge to lead 
them properly. 

" The regiments were differently composed in the three presidencies. 
Those of Bengal were mostly high-caste Hindoos; those of the North 
were Moslems; and those of Bombay and Madras included several classes. 
The prejudices of caste led to the assemblage of men of one caste only 
in each regiment, and in this way the revolt was made easy. It was en- 
tirely confined to Bengal. Only one regiment in Madras made any trou- 
ble; there was none in Bombay, and the troops in the north all remained 
faithful to England, and aided in suppressing the Mutiny. 

" The Bramins had long predicted that the English would be over- 
thrown in 1857, the hundredth anniversary of the battle of Plassey ; 
they organized a conspiracy that extended all over Bengal, and told the 
soldiers that the cartridges they used, and were required to bite when 
loading their muskets, contained grease from the cow, an animal they hold 
to be sacred, the object being to deprive them of caste and convert them 
into Englishmen. Worse yet, the cow's grease was said to be mixed with 
that of the pig, the latter animal being detested and abhorred as much 
as the cow is revered. Other stories were told to excite them against 
their masters ; the revolt was so well planned that there was hardly a 
suspicion of it till the moment of the outbreak ; and so secretly was it 
arranged that even to this day the English have not been able to learn 
all the facts connected with it. 

" The first outbreak was at Berhampoor, near Calcutta, on the 25th 
of February, 1857, where the 19th Regiment refused to use the car- 
tridges or obey any orders. The regiment was disbanded a month later, 
and meantime there had been trouble in other regiments in various parts 
of Bengal ; by the 1st of May the spirit of revolt had spread through 
the entire presidency, and within a fortnight from that elate the horrible 
massacres of Allahabad, Delhi, Dumdum, and a dozen other points nad 
taken place. The whole country was lighted up with the fires of re- 
bellion, and the ground was red with the blood of the victims, which 
included every person of European or Eurasian origin on whom the 
rebels could lay their hands. 

" Then came the revenge, as soon as the English could assemble the 
necessary troops. One stronghold after another fell, and before the end 



466 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 




OKGANIZATION OF THE ARMY. 



467 



of the year the revolt was in a state of suppression ; several battles oc- 
curred in the spring of 1858, and in some localities the rebels held out 
till autumn of that year. Anybody who wishes a full account of the 
scenes of that terrible time is referred to the many books that have 
been written concerning it, and particularly to 'The Sepoy War in In- 
dia,' by J. W. Kaye. 

"Since the rebellion and its suppression there has been a radical 
change in the organization of the army. The native forces in all India 
are about 130,000, and the English 75,000. Compare this arrangement 
with that which existed at the time of the Mutiny, when the native 
strength was 240,000 and the English less than 40,000, and you will see 
a vast difference. Each cavalry and infantry regiment has only eight 
European officers, including the surgeon, and none of them are attached 
to the companies, which are all led by their native captains. The native 
captains are drawn from the higher castes, and appointed to their places, 
as in England, while in the old formation they were promoted from the 
ranks, and were often of low caste, so that they were despised by many 
of the soldiers they commanded. 

"In the rank and file the system that made the Mutiny possible has 
been entirely abandoned ; instead of forming a regiment of a single caste, 




F. PA;/.*™/* 



ENGLISH OFFICERS IN INDIA. 



468 THE BOY TKAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

religion, or nativity, great care is taken to mix them up as much as pos- 
sible, and thus prevent the formation of a plot. Sometimes the compa- 
nies are from one tribe or district, but no two companies in a regiment are 
of the same kind. As there can be no affinity under such circumstances, 
there can be no plot, since there would be no common cause for one. 
According to the report of Sir Garnet Wolseley, during the last year of 
his service in India the native army of Bengal contained 6000 or 7000 
Hindostanee Moslems, 8000 or 9000 Kajpoots, 2000 Jats, 6000 low-caste 
Hindostanees, 6000 Punjabee Moslems, 1000 Hindoos, 12,000 Sikhs, 1200 
Mwybee Sikhs, 5000 Afghans and Pathans, 5000 or 6000 Ghoorkhas, 4000 
Dogras and other hill tribes, besides other classifications of greater or less 
importance. JSTone of the regiments are kept for a long time in any one 
place, and whenever a review or other circumstance causes a large num- 
ber of native troops to be assembled, there is a large British force con- 
veniently at hand and taking part in the manoeuvres." 

" This may possibly be dry reading to somebody at home," Fred re- 
marked as he folded the paper. "If the young folks don't like it, they 
can skip a few pages ; but I am sure the older heads in the family will 
wish to know something about the Mutiny and the present condition of 
the army in India, and therefore I shall make a nice copy of what I have 
written and send it home by the next mail." 



SIGHTS IN BOMBAY. 469 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

BOMBAY.— THE TOWERS OF SILENCE.— A PARSEE SCHOOL.— CAVES OP 
ELEPHANTA.— SNAKE-CHARMERS.— PAREWELL TO INDIA. 

\ WEEK passed pleasantly and quickly at Bombay, where there was 
-^*- much to be seen of a novel character. Bombay is unlike any other 
city of India, as will be discovered from the account of Frank and Fred, 
which we are permitted to use in our closing chapter: 

" The name of this city is supposed to be derived from Bonne Bale 
(Good Bay, or Harbor), which it was called by the Portuguese more than 
300 years ago. The harbor is the finest in all India, as it is twelve or 
fourteen miles long, by five or six in width ; the city stands on an island 
about the length and shape of the one where New York is built, and in 
other respects it reminds you of the commercial metropolis of the United 
States. Bombay has its business section at the lower end, and its resi- 
dences elsewhere, very much as we find things in New York ; it has its 
Stock Exchange and other places of speculation, and when we went to the 
Apollo Bunder, or general landing-place, we were reminded of Whitehall 
and Castle Garden. The creek that separates it from the main-land, or 
rather from the larger island of Salsette, has been bridged over, like the 
Harlem River, and the railway comes into Bombay, very much as it does 
into New York. We could make other comparisons, but the above are 
sufficient to show that we feel at home in this great city of India. 

" The lower part of Bombay is called the Fort, and it had a good right 
to have that name down to within the past twenty years. Bombay was 
the first settlement of the English in India; it was bought by the Portu- 
guese from the Moslems, who conquered it near the end of the fourteenth 
century, and held by them till 1562, when it was given as a part of the 
dowry of a Portuguese princess on her marriage with King Charles II. 
of England. When the East India Company began operations it rented 
the island of Bombay from the king for ten pounds a year, and continued 
to pay that rental till 1858, when the Company went out of existence. 
A fort was built on the lower end of the island, just as one was built 



470 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



about the same time at New Amsterdam (afterward New York), and it 
stood. there till the invention of modern artillery made it useless as a 

place of defence. Many 
line buildings have been 
erected on the site of the 
fort and on its esplanade, 
and as you wander about 
the streets you are con- 
stantly impressed with the 
business activity that pre- 
vails. 

" In the Fort there are 
many fine public buildings 
that must have cost a great 
deal of money ; there are 
some nice bungalows, or 
private residences, at By- 
culla, which may be called 
the Fifth Avenue of Bom- 
bay, and also on Malabar 
Hill, which corresponds to 
the upper part of Manhat- 
tan Island, in the vicinity 
of the Boulevard. They 
tell us that during the 
American Civil War there 
was the wildest kind of 
speculation in Bombay, 
and enormous fortunes 
were made and lost ; when 
the crash came everybody 
suffered ; and even to-day 
the city has not wholly re- 
covered. The high price of cotton caused eveiwbody to speculate in it, 
and for a while Bombay appeared to be the most prosperous city in the 
world. 

"We will try to tell what we have seen since we came here, but there 
is so much of it that we shall be sure to forget something. 

" To begin at the beginning, the first thing that attracted our atten- 
tion was the ffreat number of Parsees ; we had seen them before in Cal- 




BOMBAY AND ITS EN VI HON S. 



A MIXED POPULATION. 



471 



cutta, Hong-Kong, and other cities, but when we got to Bombay we 
found the streets full of them. Doctor Bronson says there are about 
700,000 inhabitants in Bombay, and the Parsees are thought to be not 
far from 70,000; then there are 450,000 Hindoos, 120,000 Moslems, and 








A PAKSEE MERCHANT. 



472 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

25,000 Europeans, while the balance is made up of various Eastern races 
and nationalities. So you see the Parsees are a tenth of the population, 
and we are told that at least half the wealth of Bombay is in their hands. 
Bombay is often called the City of the Pa»-sees, and not by any means 
without good reason. 

" The Parsees came originally from Persia, where they had been per- 
secuted for their religious belief ; they settled at Surat, and from there 
a good many of them came to Bombay and to other places along the 
coast, and it is thought that at least half of all the Parsees in India are 
in this city. They are sometimes called fire-worshippers, on account of 
their reverence for fire, and the worship they give to the sun, as the em- 
blem of life. They regard fire as sacred, and will do nothing to degrade 
it ; no good Parsee will venture to smoke, and it is an act of rudeness 
or ignorance to offer him a cigar or cigarette, or to light a cigar while 
talking with him. The Parsees are the shrewdest merchants of the East, 
and a large part of the business of Bombay is in their hands ; the leading 
Parsee houses have branches in London and other European cities, as 
well as in China and the Far East generally. In every way they are the 
most influential of all the native inhabitants of Bombay, and are steadily 
gaining in intelligence and prominence. When they fled to India they 
brought the sacred fire with them, and it has been kept burning in their 
temples ever since. 

" Doctor Bronson found an old friend from New York,* who had 
been for ten years a resident of Bombay ; through his assistance and in 
his company we were taken to the cemetery of the Parsees, on Malabar 
Hill, where we saw their strange way of disposing of the dead. He also 
took us to a Parsee school, where we saw lots of bright-eyed children, and 
heard them recite their lessons, which they did very prettily, although 
the language was one we did not understand. The little girls and boys 
* spoke their pieces' just as girls and boys do at a school examination in 
Massachusetts or New York, and were quite as proud of the medals and 
prizes that were given to them. The afternoon we spent in visiting the 
Parsee school was one of the most interesting of our stay in Bombay. 

"Very naturally, we were most interested in the girls; they were 
from eight to twelve years old, and had keen, intelligent faces. Nearly 
all were pretty as pinks — brown-hued pinks, we may say, as the most of 



* Doctor F. W. Doolittle, an American physician, who had gained a high reputation and 
had a large practice among Europeans and Parsees. He died suddenly in April, 1880, from the 
effects of a severe cold contracted while attending a patient. 



VISITING A PAESEE SCHOOL. 



473 



the complexions had a brunette tinge. Each head was covered with a 
gold-embroidered cap, and the rest of the costume was quite Oriental, as 
it consisted of loose trousers, with a white or embroidered frock. The rec- 
itations and songs were given in a manner highly creditable to the tiny 
ladies, and with almost perfect coolness and self-possession. As each lit- 
tle miss — we don't know the Parsee word for miss— came forward to ve- 




PARSEE SCHOOL CHILDREN. 



eeive her prize she bowed gracefully, and marched off to her seat with all 
the dignity of a princess. And we call these people ignorant heathen ! 

"On leaving the school, we were invited to visit the 'Towers of Si- 
lence' on Malabar Hill, where the Parsees dispose of their dead: it was 
arranged that we should be at the gate of the cemetery at seven o'clock 



474 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

on the following morning, when one of the prominent Parsees to whom 
we had been introduced would meet us. We were there at the appointed 
time, and so was the gentleman who was to accompany ns through the 
place. 

" The Parsees do not bury their dead, bat expose the bodies to be 
eaten by birds. The gentleman explained why they did this, and we 
cannot do better than use his own words, as nearly as we remember them. 

" ' This mode of sepulture,' said he, ' was adopted because it was 
thought the most appropriate and satisfactory. Hindoos burn their 
dead, but we consider fire sacred, and would not use it for any ignoble 
office. The earth is the mother of mankind, the producer of the fruits 
and vegetables on which we live, and the burial of the dead in it is a de- 
filement and an injury. Cemeteries are acknowledged everywhere to be 
unhealthy, and I believe you have much discussion concerning them in 
Europe and America. When a body is exposed here it is quickly de- 
voured, and there are none of the gases that arise from cremation or 
decomposition, nor is the earth defiled in any way. So we regard this 
as the best way of disposing of our dead.' 

" This explanation was made while we were standing in a building 
near the entrance of the grounds, where the sacred fire is kept burning 
on an altar; a part of the building forms a temple, to which funeral par- 
ties come to say their prayers, and there are several rooms where the 
priests and attendants bathe and change their apparel. From the win- 
dows there is a fine view of the bay and the country surrounding the 
city, and a neat garden shows that the attendants of the place are not 
idlers. 

" The other structures in the enclosure are the famous Towers, nine 
in number, about twelve feet in height and thirty in diameter. In the 
side of each tower is a double door of iron, where the bearers enter with 
the bodies of the dead ; through these doors no person, not even a Parsee, 
with the exception of the attendants, is permitted to look ; and if any one 
passes within twenty yards of a tower he is required to bathe and change 
his clothing before leaving the grounds. This is not a superstitious no- 
tion, but is intended to prevent the spread of contagious diseases ; and so 
great is the precaution, that the bearers and priests are required to go 
through the ceremony of purification after each funeral. 

" On the tops of two or three towers, those most in use, a lot of 
vultures were sitting and waiting the arrival of the funeral processions : 
they are so eager to perform their work that they sometimes attack the 
bearers, and the latter always carry stout sticks for defending themselves. 



THE -'TOWERS OF SILENCE.' 



475 



Oar conductor told us that within an hour after the closing of the doors 
on a body nothing remains but the bones, and these are swept into a well 
in the centre of the tower, where they gradually decay. 

" We took a walk among the towers, being careful not to go inside 
the prohibited limit, and then returned to the entrance. Before we left 
the grounds our guide showed us a model of one of the towers, and as he 
•did so he told us that the system was not invented by the Parsees of 
Bombay, but was brought from Persia by their ancestors. The towers in 
Persia are entered over the top by means of ladders placed against the 
sides, and not through doors, as in the present instance. The funerals 




•a 

A PARSEE TOWER OF SILENCE, NEAR TEHERAN. 



take place at sunrise or sunset — never in the night, and rarely in the 
middle of the day. 

" The subject is not a pleasant one ; but so much has been said 
about the Parsees and their mode of sepulture, that we feel justified for 
what we have written. From all we have been able to observe, the Par- 
sees are not fanatical on any religious subject, but they carefully preserve 
their dress and original customs, and are evidently very earnest in their 
respect for themselves and their ancestry. There are no more intelligent 



476 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 



men in Asia than the Parsees. At least, that is what those who know 
them best are ready to say. 

" From the ' Towers of Silence ' we .went to see the hospital for ani- 




&t:. 



11 ;'v ( V; i, ' '■ 




A BUNDER-BOAT. 



mals, which is a Parsee institution for sheltering all domestic animals that 
are in need of help. The theory of the charity is an excellent one, but 
the practice did not strike us favorably. There were many animals close- 
ly penned together, and the places where they were kept were not at all 
clean. There were dozens and dozens of dogs, the most of them ill-con- 
ditioned curs, in all stages of canine diseases. They receive no animal 
food, which would be contrary to Parsee principles, and evidently they 
do not relish boiled rice. Sheds and stalls were crowded with horses, 
cows, oxen, sheep, and other domestic animals, some of them suffering 



THE CAVES OF ELEPHANTA. 477 

from incurable disease or injury. There were twice as many occupants 
of the place as could be comfortably accommodated. The hospital was 
founded on principles of humanity and kindness, but its practical work- 
ing leaves much to be desired. 

"Every visitor to Bombay hears of the benevolence of one of its 
Parsee merchants, who accumulated an immense fortune in the China 
trade, and used a large part of it for the benefit of the public. He built 
and endo'sved two large hospitals ; constructed at his own expense the 
stone bridge that connects Bombay with the island of Salsette ; contrib- 
uted very liberally to the fund for the relief of the sick and wounded 
soldiers during the Crimean war, and was famous for many other chari- 
ties. So great was his liberality and public spirit, that the Queen recog- 
nized his merits by conferring on him the honors of knighthood, and af- 
terward raising him to the rank of a baronet. His name, Sir Jamsetjee 
Jejeebhoy, is rather difficult for 'American lips to pronounce ; but it is 
familiar as a household word in the mouth of every old resident of Bom- 
bay. There is a statue to his memory in one of the public places of 
Bombay, but his greatest monument is in the hospitals he endowed and 
the public works he created. 

"A study of Bombay would be incomplete without a visit to the 
famous Caves of Elephanta. Formerly it was necessary to go to them in 
a bunder-boat, as they are situated on an island seven miles from the 
bund or landing-place; and as the wind could not be depended on, the 
excursion was of uncertain length. At present you can hire a steam- 
launch for about seven dollars, and it will easily accommodate four per- 
sons, with their guide, and this is what we did. Steam seems to be driv- 
ing sails out of use everywhere, even in un progressive India, and the 
bunder-boat gives way to the launch, just as the clipper-ship does to the 
ocean steamer. 

" We had a pleasant run across the harbor, and in due time reached 
the end of the stone causeway that leads up to the caves. The" island 
takes its name from the statue of an elephant that formerly stood nearly 
half-way from the landing to the caves ; it is about five miles in circum- 
ference, and is occupied by a hundred inhabitants or so, who raise sheep 
and poultry to sell in Bombay. The caves are about 250 yards from the 
water, and consist of a series of temples hewn from the solid rock, or 
rather of one large temple, with smaller ones at each side. From the en- 
trance to the rear of the cavern it is 123 feet, and the width of the whole 
is said to be 130 feet. We do not know by whom they were made, but 
the general belief is that they were excavated about a thousand years ago. 



478 



THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 




INTEEIOK OF THE CAVE OF ELEPHANTA. 



479 



" Stone pillars support the roof, and the interior is so dark that 
torches are needed for exploring it. The walls are covered with sculpt- 
ures in bold relief, and both sculptures and pillars have been greatly 
iniured; it is said that the Portuguese placed cannon at the entrance of 
the cave, and tired solid shot into the temple for several hours, in order 
to destroy the work of the idolaters. At present the cave is carefully 
protected, and guards are constantly on the lookout to prevent injury by 
visitors. 

" The sculptures show that the temple, or at any rate a part of it, 
was devoted to the worship of Siva, one of the Hindoo divinities, as his 
figure appears in several places, and there are numerous emblems such as 
we find in his temples elsewhere. There is a three-headed bust to repre- 
sent the Hindoo trinity — Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva — and in one place 
there is a figure of Buddha, which is thought to be more modern than 
the rest. Some persons think this temple is older than the Caves of Eh 
lora, while others believe that Ellora is the more ancient. Nobody can 
tell, and perhaps it is not of much consequence after all, as either of the 
works is venerable enough for modern visitors. 

" The hotel where we stop is the resort of snake-charmers, jugglers, 
and others, who hope to pick up a little money by amusing the visitors ; 




COTTON MAnivI.T AT BOMBAY. 



480 THE BOY TRAVELLEKS IN THE FAR EAST. 

of course they are not allowed to enter the building, but they gather in 
front of it, especially after breakfast and during the afternoon, so that we 
can have a performance at any time at very little cost. We had heard a 
great deal about the wonderful skill of the East Indian jugglers, and have 
missed no opportunity of seeing them when there was a prospect of some- 
thing marvellous, but, from all we have observed, we unhesitatingly de- 
clare that they do not equal Hermann, Blitz, and other sleight-of-hand 
exhibitors in the United States. 

" Travellers have written about the basket trick, in which a boy en- 
ters a basket just large enough to hold him ; the performer then begins 
a conversation with the boy, which becomes more and more violent as it 
proceeds, and finally a sword is thrust into the basket and apparently 
pierces the occupant. He screams, and calls out that he is killed. The 
sword is thrust in again and again ; the boy's screams become fainter and 
fainter, and finally cease, and it is supposed that he has been killed. The 
basket is soon after lifted, and found to be empty, and the boy appears in 
the crowd of by-standers. We have seen this trick two or three times, 
and in each instance there was plenty of opportunity for the boy to escape 
before the conversation began, and, of course, the screams could be made 
to come from the basket by means of ventriloquism. In another basket 
trick the boy remains in the basket, and the sword is handled in such a 
manner as to avoid touching him. 

"A trick more difficult to explain is that of making a tree grow in a 
short time. The juggler takes a common pot filled with earth, and plants 
a mango-seed in the centre ; then he squats in front of it, and begins play- 
ing on a musical instrument, or perhaps he sits perfectly still and looks at 
the ground. In a minute or so the earth in the centre of the pot swells, 
and then bursts, so as to show the plant springing from the seed ; the 
shoot appears and rises slowly, and it grows and grows, till at length the 
leaves come out, the blossoms form, the fruit shapes itself, ripens, and is 
plucked off and handed to the spectators. The whole process of growth, 
from the planting of the seed to the ripening and plucking of the fruit, 
occupies about half an hour, and the performer does not touch the pot or 
bring his hand near the tree until the fruit is 'to be plucked. 

" Snake-charmers are numerous, and we have looked at them till we 
are tired of their performances. They carry small baskets about the size 
and shape of a Cheshire cheese, and with loose covers over the top, as we 
have previously described. The basket is placed on the ground and the 
cover removed, while the performer squats by its side and begins playing 
on a sort of flute. In a few moments the cloths in the basket begin to 



SNAKE-CHARMING IN INDIA. 



481 



move, and the head of a cobra rises slowly from among them ; the music 
continues, and in a little while the snake has come quite out of the bas- 
ket, and is standing as erect as a snake can stand before its master. He 
makes a sort of dancing motion, and is evidently fond of the flute, as he 
lowers his head and goes back to the basket when the man ceases playing. 
"While the snake is dancing the man suddenly drops the flute, and, 
at the same instant, grasps the snake around the neck. The snake be- 
comes enraged, and at the first opportunity bites its master on the hand ; 





SERPENTS DANCING TO MUSIC. 



the latter appears greatly excited, and rubs tlie wound with a stone, which 
is said to be an antidote against snake-bites, and he offers to sell it to you 
for a high price. The fact is, the snake is perfectly harmless, as his fangs 
have been removed, and he might bite the performer a hundred times 
over without the least injury. The snake-charmers wind the strange 
pets around their necks and bodies, and play with them in many w T ays ; 
and when all their tricks are concluded the serpents are returned to the 
baskets, and a collection is taken for the benefit of the showman. 

31 



482 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. 

" These cobras, like their kindred in Ceylon, have a great fondness 
for houses, and it makes little difference to them whether the places they 
inhabit belong to Europeans or natives. It makes you feel uncomforta- 
ble to think a deadly cobra may be under your feet as you walk on the 
grass, or may enter your room while you are sleeping. The other day 
we were breakfasting with a gentleman whose bungalow is on Malabar 
Hill, and after breakfast the conversation turned on snakes ; he told us 
of the habit of the cobra, and while we were talking on the subject a 
snake-charmer came along and wished to give a performance. The gen- 
tleman told him we had already witnessed the tricks of the business, but 
if he could find a snake about his premises he would pay him. We went 
to the veranda at the rear of the bungalow, and the charmer squatted on 
the ground and began playing on his flute; in a few minutes the head of 
a cobra appeared from beneath the bungalow, and as the music went on 
he crawled slowly out and stood erect in front of the charmer. Quick as 
a flash the man dropped his flute, and grasped the snake firmly by the 
neck ; it was all the work of an instant, and before we knew what he was 
about the snake was his prisoner. Holding him firmly by the neck, he 
brought him near us, and forced his mouth open, so as to exhibit the ter- 
rible fangs, with the bags of poison at their base. Our host accepted this 
as a proof that the snake was not, as is frequently the case, the property 
of the performer, and had been secretly let loose in order that he might 
be caught. 

"As soon as he had shown us the fangs, the man took a pair of pin- 
cers from the folds of his dress and removed the poisonous teeth; then 
he placed the prize in his basket, as our host had no use for it, and with 
a couple of rupees as a reward for his services, departed. 

"If the snake had succeeded in biting the man his life would have 
been in great danger, as the poison is much more violent than that of the 
rattlesnake, and is generally fatal. Prompt application of antidotes will 
sometimes counteract its. effects, but is by no means sure to do so ; the 
snake-charmers have a few antidotes known only to themselves, while the 
English physicians make use of arsenic, in pills of one grain each, or ap- 
ply Fowler's solution, and they also give large doses of alcoholic and 
other stimulants, in the same way that rattlesnake bites are treated in 
America. Our host said that from fifteen to twenty thousand lives are 
lost in India every year by the bites of venomous serpents. It is very 
rarely the case that Europeans are bitten, for the reason that they walk 
about very little, and besides, they are always clothed, and have their feet- 
covered with shoes, while the natives are barefooted. 



GOOD-BYE. 



483 



" It is getting late, and we must stop writing. "We could tell more 
about snakes if we had time and space ; more about Bombay, and a great 
deal more about India. It is a vast country; and though we have seen 
many things since we entered it, we feel there is much more that we have 
not seen. How could it be otherwise, when the population of India in- 
cludes not far from a fifth of the whole human race, and comprises so 
many kinds and tribes of men that we are lost in the attempt to enumer- 
ate and describe them ? We have told all we could in the short time at 
our disposal for observation and writing out the result, and if you want 
more knowledge about this wonderful land we must refer you elsewhere. 

" To-morrow we leave Bombay by steamer. , Doctor Bronson says we 
go under 'sealed orders,' as ships of war sometimes do when it is desired 
to conceal their destination, and our orders will be opened when we are 
out of sight of land. We cannot say what are his reasons for thus con- 
cealing our future movements, but we know they are entirely proper, 
and therefore we are satisfied. Of course you will hear from us again ; 
you have indicated your satisfaction at what we have sent home hereto- 
fore, and consequently we shall be encouraged to continue our descrip- 
tions of the countries it may be our fortune to visit. 

"And so we say good-bye to India, and good-bye, for the present, to 
friends at home." 




FAREWELL TO INDIA. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



019 953 597 3 



